twin moon

Chapter 191 No.20 Act Six
The third day of March, the Spring Festival.

At this time, people will go to the water to bathe in groups of three or four, which is called "祓禊".This festival originated in Mianzhou, where the rivers are criss-crossed. It was originally a sacrificial activity for farmers along the banks to pray for the god of the river not to flood after spring.Later, through Wanzhou merchants who came to the Mianzhong Plateau to resell copper and iron ore, it gradually spread throughout the entire territory of Dasheng.

Every time before and after the Spring Mu Festival, rich and poor, high and low, all will bathe near the water bank.As time went by, businessmen and dignitaries from all over the world gradually took advantage of this day to go out in the countryside for spring outings, sacrifices and banquets, while literati and inkmen took this opportunity to sing poems and wine, and drink water.The sages from all over the world will often go out on tour, have fun with the people, open the treasury at places where crowds gather, cook porridge and donate, so as to help poor farmers through the period of insufficiency.

Yubei is located in the 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 in the territory.However, in the city of Suyao, which was built on the Gobi sandbar and where yellow sand flies into the sky for almost [-]% of the year, it followed the appearance of the southern city of Yanjiang River, and built three rings of gold, silver and copper that intersect end to end. channel.

The reason is that the Yubei Zuoqiu family followed Bai Jiangxi all the way to the north, opened up territories and made great military exploits.The first ruler of the country, Zuoqiu Wushang, asked the emperor to guard the northern border of the empire for generations after the world was pacified.However, Zuoqiu's lineage is of southern blood after all, and it is uncomfortable to live in the dry and bitter desert for a long time.After moving, his wife had several miscarriages due to acclimatization.In desperation, Zuoqiu Wushang had no choice but to take another maidservant as his concubine, only then was he able to flourish and continue the bloodline.

After thousands of years, the descendants of the Zuoqiu family kept silent about this matter, and even the existence of this concubine was deliberately erased from the history books.Because they all knew that the maidservant was actually a Shodi from the grassland.And the blood of the so-called barbarians has already flowed on his body.

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 will spare no effort to reproduce the misty and misty Jiangnan scenery in this royal capital called Suiyao. Such a city of wonders that is incompatible with the Gobi desert.

The Spring Mu Festival in Suiyao City revolves around three inland waterways.The water in the canal is directly drawn from the upper reaches of the Pinjin River. Anyone in the Yin and Tong canals can bathe in the water as long as they take off their clothes.But the golden water canal in the innermost circle is located within the palace wall of the royal city, and non-king relatives are not allowed to enter without permission.

In Yubei Shaotianye, at the turn of spring and summer, people who plant alfalfa and barley will pick up bows and arrows, step on horses, and start hunting for several months.Over time, the Spring Mu Festival, which no longer needs to pray for farming, has become a festival for the dignitaries in Suyao City to entertain themselves.

In the early spring of the second year of Dasheng Zhaoxi, in this golden canal that used to wash and exorcise his ancestors, the old Zuoqiu Que, with bare feet, looked at the water flowing down from the Qingying Mountains in front of him. The clear and clear canal water stopped breathing forever.

A few years before his death, the old king of Yubei had contracted a chronic illness.This disease is like wind and mist, without root or source.When he is in good condition, Zuoqiu Que can chat and laugh happily with others, drink tea and play chess, or read and review memorials at night by lamplight.However, when the situation was bad, it could make his eyes glaze over and his mouth water. Even when his youngest son Zuoqiu Zi contracted smallpox seven years ago and was dying of illness, he couldn't even take a look in person.

Some people say that this disease is caused by Zuoqiu Que's great success, so that his two sons died in the battlefield one after another, and he became insane.Some people also said that it was the Zuoqiu clan who beheaded and killed too many innocent prairie people, set up too many armed forces on this land that did not belong to them, and was punished by heaven.

But no one knew that when he was dying, the last legitimate successor of the Zuoqiu clan was chanting a name: Xiaoya——that was the baby name of Princess Yueying, and she was the most beloved and most beloved in the past. Poor well-behaved daughter.

After Zuoqiu Que passed away, the new queen who had just been established soon took charge of the Yubei Dynasty government together with her brother.Saxueqi, who was on an expedition, was recalled to Suiyao City by an order. From then on, he guarded the capital and never talked about war lightly.

However, Yubei's surprise attack on Yanluoyuan still gave the world a glimpse of the current appearance of the Muyun tribe, which once dominated the northern territory and then quickly declined.And Tie Chongshan, which had disappeared for more than [-] years, also returned to the sight of the princes of the Dasheng Dynasty, making them feel restless day and night.

The second year of Dasheng Zhaoxi, the ninth day of April.The long-awaited Chunyang finally revealed its true face after the continuous rain.On the war-torn land of Ye Country, new greenery sprouted again.

The tung tree in Guihong Garden has sprouted dense branches and leaves again, casting a mottled shadow under the tree.The morning sun shines through the densely woven branches, and shines on the face of the sleeping boy at the desk in the study.

Recently, Qi Ziyin has been dealing with middle school affairs repeatedly, and it has been a long time since he had the opportunity to go back to Zhe Liuxuan.The white gown on his body has not been changed for several days, and the cuffs are full of ink stained when he was at his desk.And the edict that was not finished last night was also stained by a fine purple pen that rolled down on the desk, making it difficult to use.

A gust of wind blew off a few leaves on the top of the tung tree, Shi Shiran drifted down, landed on the inkstone that had already dried up, and also landed on the forehead and nose of the young man, making him sneezed several times suddenly, rubbing his eyes sleepily Looking at the bright spring light outside the window with sleepy eyes, he called out:
"Brother Shitou—Brother Shitou! It's almost noon, why didn't you wake me up? Have Ning Yue and Jiang Yan come here?"

After shouting for a few times but getting no response, Qi Ziyin finally came to his senses - it turns out that this is no longer the Gui Hongyuan in his memory.And those people who used to be by my side are now either missing, or separated by yin and yang, and are no longer by my side.

Countless times, he fell asleep in front of the case because of the heavy schoolwork assigned by Master Gou, and because of this, he missed countless opportunities to go out with the girl he admired.Young people are often very annoyed by this, and they always hope that tomorrow will come soon.

However, right now, he really hoped that he would not wake up so soon.At least, in that moment of half-dream and half-awake, he once again returned to the carefree time a few years ago, back to the Mulu City that once haunted him in his dreams, but now can only exist in his memories.

"The lord is awake, can you arrange to wash up and have some breakfast?"

A voice suddenly sounded outside the door, it was the servant in charge of the young man's diet and daily life.Qi Ziyin was stunned for a moment, then groped around to find something.Finally, he picked up the silver mask that fell there at some point from his feet, and put it on his face in a panic, before he breathed a sigh of relief:

"I don't have much appetite, no need."

The person outside the door seemed to have figured out the temperament of the young ruler, and after singing, he was about to turn around and leave with the cook who brought the food—since Qi Ziyin succeeded to the throne, he did not allow others to eat and drink every day. Be present to take care of.The reason was that the unrecognizable face under the silver mask would make the Qi family's already precarious reputation in Ye country even worse.

The white-clothed boy inside the door paused for a moment, and then ordered as if he suddenly remembered something: "Prepare the horse immediately, I want to leave the palace."

Today is the day that the boy in white made an appointment with Leng Jiayun.When he learned of Jiang Yan's whereabouts from Mo Zeming, he worried about him every day and thought about it often.However, I wanted to get in touch with the other party as soon as possible to edit the book several times before, but the journey was too far, and it was not feasible to send letters northward by boat or bird, and no one around me knew the vast grassland in Shuobei, so I had to give up temporarily.

However, a month ago, the news that Yubei Saxue was riding northward in a big way made Qi Ziyin's heart suspend again.Now that it was decided after the war, and the people of the country of Ye were finally able to recuperate, he wondered whether he could send people to the north to visit Yubei by land, hoping to find out something about the mysterious Muyun tribe, and about their Only a few words from Tianhe.

Surrounding Zheliuxuan in Xiuyefang, there are still dense forests of ancient cypresses and shadowy trees.The only difference is that the smell of alcohol in Xuanzhong is much stronger than before.Although Qi Ziyin issued an edict, he returned Jiayunzhai to Leng Jiayun's name.However, this woman from Dongli hopes to live in this other courtyard where her lover used to live, which can evoke endless memories.

Today, she has once again regained the craft of brewing wine in Xuanzhong. It is still the recipe of clear lychee in the past, but with a taste of crabapple nectar added.And women call this wine Zui Baili.

"Sister Jia, I beg you to send the eyes and ears to Yubei, did you send back any news?"

As soon as he entered the door, the white-clothed boy took off his mask and hurriedly asked the woman who was making wine.

The woman in purple didn't reply immediately, but wiped off the sticky burrs on her fingers, and then tapped the other's forehead with her index finger:

"You are already the lord of the country, but you still can't hide your thoughts. Look at your two eyebrows. If I ignore you again, I'm afraid it will be difficult to separate them in the future."

"Sister Jia, don't criticize me anymore. There will be plenty of time in the future. Tell me first, is there any news?" Qi Ziyin said, and wiped off the bit of rice wine on the center of his eyebrows with his fingertips. , but did not send it to the mouth as usual.

This time he went north to search for General Yan, but he did not send anyone to do it in his capacity as the lord of the country.Firstly, it was because he had to pass through the territory of Weiliang, and his lord Qiu Borong turned a deaf ear to Qi Ziyin's repeated revision of the book to express the truce and peace.Secondly, it is because of the relationship between the Shodi people.As the lord of Ye Kingdom, the young man does not wish to bring any new troubles to his country and subjects because of Tie Chongshan's confrontation with Sa Xueqi.

"It's not that there's no news, it's just—" Leng Jiayun also straightened up and stopped joking.

"Could it be that no one in Yubei knows about it? Impossible, they just fought each other a month ago, and Big Brother Fan Zhen has already sent scouts in the 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 they even failed to pass through the Yangguan Pass."

"Why? I specially prepared a fast horse for this trip, how could I still walk so slowly? Could it be because of Wei Liang—"

"It's because of Yujing." Before he could finish speaking, Leng Jiayun said again, "The emperor in the capital had ordered the closure of Suoyang Pass ten days ago, and even blocked all merchants and letters from the north and the south."

"It's all right, what's the reason for this move?"

"It's not yet known. Now, we can only wait for the person who is locked up to find a way to pass 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 happened to close the Suoyang Pass that had not been closed for a long time since the Shuodi Rebellion.

Just as they were talking, they heard a crisp bird call from above their heads.Qi Ziyin was taken aback for a moment, then looked up joyfully.I saw a red-necked and green-backed parrot sitting on a towering pine branch.

The young man immediately pursed his lips and blew lightly.The bird recognized the master's whistle, and immediately landed on his wrist.

"Brother Mu has a letter on his feet!"

Qi Ziyin's eyes suddenly lit up, he reached out his hand from the bamboo tube on the bird's leg and took out a silk full of words, held it in his palm and read carefully.

However, the letter was not sent by Jiang Yan to the parrot brother.The silk on which the letter was written seemed to be a small piece torn from the clothes, and the edges were criss-crossed.The words on it were also written with charcoal that had been burned on the fire, crooked and blurry.However, the young man still struggled to make out a few passages:

Jiang Yan, I don't know if you have received the previous letter.If you received it, why did you take out the letter but did not reply...

Right now I am still in Yujing, but I don't know when I will be able to escape from here.Now the Baijiang Clan's country has already fallen into the hands of Gao Li who monopolizes the power...

A few days ago, he had ordered to block all the roads going north via Suoyang Pass. The reason is that he was still afraid that what he did would cause dissatisfaction from Wei Liang and the southern countries...

Gao Li is a cautious person.If you write to me in the future, you must remember not to reveal your first and last name.But I really hope to get your reply soon, at least, before the big wedding day comes...

"I've heard of this Gaoli before. He is a celebrity around Emperor Baijiang. It turned out that he ordered the closure of the pass! But what does the wedding in Ningyue's letter mean? Listening to what she said, it seems that she is currently being imprisoned in the prison. In Yujing Palace, and fell into the hands of Gao Li... Could it be that the eunuch who planned to marry Ning Yue was actually that eunuch who killed a thousand swords?!"

Qi Ziyin couldn't believe his own inference, and read the contents of the letter carefully again, but his hands and feet became more and more numb, and he became chaotic.

　The starting point is not the starting point, and the whole book is free.

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(End of this chapter)