cloud temple phoenix hairpin

Chapter 116

Chapter 103

Xie Zuiqiao frowned.

The Jokhang Dynasty changed emperors at the end of last year. Coincidentally, just a few months ago, the Xiting Dynasty also underwent a change of kingship.It's just that compared to Jokha, this change is full of bloody cruelty.The old Khan of Xiting has three sons. The eldest prince and the second prince are both hawks and iron-blooded figures. They have fought against Dazhao for many years, and it is not unrelated to these two ambitious princes who are fueling the flames.Apart from coveting Dazhao, the two have never stopped competing secretly for the throne.At the beginning of the year, the old Khan died of illness, and according to the national ceremony, the eldest prince succeeded him.Xin Dahan found out that his younger brother was secretly doing his own harm with the support of the Yue family's Keli royal family, how could he allow him to succeed?Borrowed a palace banquet and secretly poisoned the wine. A few days later, the second prince died of hemoptysis.The princess was angry and instigated the members of the Keli royal family to raise troops. After a civil strife, the new Khan was killed by the rebels, and the royal family jointly elected the third son of the old Khan, Li Dan, to succeed him as King Khan.

According to reports from secret agents, Lidan, the third son of the old Khan, was mild-natured. When Dazhao and Xi Ting were at odds with each other in the early years, he held different political views from his two elder brothers who held real power, so he had been half-retiring to live in his own territory. middle.Now that he succeeded Khan, it was good news for Yu Dazhao.

Just last month, Xie Zuiqiao received a secret order from Jin Jing, ordering him to pay attention to the actions of the Xiting Royal Capital.Although the black-clothed boy today can speak fluent Chinese, Xie Zuiqiao relied on his own intuition to conclude that he probably had something to do with the royal family of the Western Court.

Among Li Dan's sons, apart from the eldest son, Shao Lieji, the second and youngest sons are only in their early ten years.Could it be that the young man is the eldest son Shaolie?If so, he first sneaked across the border to provoke himself today, and then robbed his sister. There are only two motives behind it, one is the order of King Xiting Khan, and the other is his own actions.

According to Xie Zuiqiao's judgment, the latter should be the majority.

"Go to the posthouse!"

Xie Zuiqiao gave an order, immediately got on his horse and galloped away.

This Tianshen Festival is also a major festival for the Xiting people. Half a month ago, Xiting sent envoys to bring the caravan.Xie Zuiqiao regarded this as Xiting Xinhan's act of showing kindness to Dazhao, and arranged the envoys to live in the post house, treated each other with courtesy, and gave each other gifts.

The envoy's name is Andu, he is familiar with the etiquette of Dazhao, and he is proficient in Chinese.When the two countries negotiated peace in the past, he participated in it and made a lot of effort.This time, the Xiting court had just undergone major changes, and he was sent here. Before leaving, he was secretly ordered by Xin Khan to talk, and when he was ordered to come, try to listen to what Dazhao had to say.

Both Dazhao and Xiting are the new emperors who came to the throne, and at this time it is inevitable that they have the desire to test each other.An Du came here under the orders of the king, he naturally knew that Xiezhou Mu was a confidant of the new Emperor Dazhao, so he didn't dare to neglect, and stayed with him for several days, during which he tried his best to beat around the bush, but he couldn't hear the slightest word of mouth.This morning, I was invited to attend the opening ceremony together, and I was surprised to see the eldest son Shaolie.

Speaking of which, although this eldest son is young, he is also a well-known figure in Xuancheng, the royal capital of Xiting.When the old Khan was still alive, although his father was the most inconspicuous among several brothers, and his biological mother, the princess, passed away early, he was deeply loved by the old Khan because of his wisdom and bravery since he was a child.During the final battle between Xiting and Dazhao three years ago, when he was less than fifteen years old, he broke into the king's tent and asked to join the battle, but was stopped by the old king Khan.Later, the Xiting army was repulsed by Xie Nanjin and his son. The old Khan felt that he was powerless, so he followed the remarks of the moderate faction in the court and negotiated peace with Dazhao.Now that Lidan succeeded Khan, when he sent Andu to Yuncheng, the prince asked to come with him.Lidan Khan knew that his eldest son had been brooding over the defeat of Xiting several years ago, and now that Xie Zuiqiao was the shepherd of Hexi Prefecture, he was afraid that he would seek trouble due to his youth, so he would not allow him.So this morning when he suddenly saw his eldest son Shaolie, he was naturally very surprised, and immediately guessed that he must have sneaked here without telling Lidan Khan.Because the matter was so important, I didn't dare to make a sound at that time. When I hurried to look for him after we had dispersed, where would I find him?I was worried for a whole day, but in the evening, I heard that Master Zhou's sister was lost, and I searched all over the neighborhood but found no one.Recalling that scene in the morning, he instinctively immediately thought of his son Shaolie, how could he still fall asleep.It was already late at night, and suddenly heard that Xie Zuiqiao was looking for him, he felt a little bit in his heart, and hurriedly adjusted his clothes to welcome him out.

When Xie Zuiqiao met An Du, he was not polite, and asked directly: "Do you know the boy who made trouble with me this morning?"

An Du wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said with an apologetic smile: "Master Xie was joking, I don't recognize that person."

Xie Zuiqiao stared at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled slightly and said: "If it's not, then I'm relieved. Someone came to report just now, saying that the boy spied on the military aircraft in my city and was arrested. I thought that boy was from your country , so I'll let you know first. Since you don't know him, I'm relieved. I'll take my leave now." After saying that, he got up and wanted to say goodbye.

An Du turned pale with fright and hurried forward to stop him.

Xie Zuiqiao saw that his face was flushed, but he couldn't speak, and said: "If your lord has something to say, just talk about it. Although Xie is not talented, he can only distinguish the priorities. No matter what happens, there is always a solution."

An Du knew that although he was young, he acted with rare prudence, so he sighed and said helplessly: "The young man you mentioned just now, Mr. Xie, is none other than the son of King Khan! This time I was sent here, King Khan He was not allowed to go with him. Why did he go to spy on the important place of military aircraft? Firstly, it is definitely not my Khan’s intention, and secondly, is there a misunderstanding? Thank you for your understanding!"

Xie Zuiqiao clenched his fists tightly, and said: "Master Andu, I'm telling you the truth, the prince of your country did not go to spy on our military aircraft, but..." He paused,
He said coldly, "My sister is lost, you must know it too. My people have searched all the nearby places but can't find it. Just now I heard a report from a sergeant on the Xingshui side of the border between the two countries, and it seemed vaguely that I saw a horse She Shoal has entered the border of your country. The horse ran too fast and the sergeant couldn't stop it in time, so I suspected that it had something to do with the prince. I wanted to send people across the border to look for it, but after thinking about it, it was the prophet who said hello to you, so I found it. Sir, please lead me into the country to find it."

The weather was hot, but Andu's back was sweating profusely.

Lidan Khan has always been fond of the Dazhao culture. When he was a prince, the palace invited a Han teacher to teach his sons.Now that he is on the throne of Khan, he came here to sympathize with the sufferings of the people who have been fighting for years, and he himself intends to have a real friendship with Dazhao, so he was sent to scout the way.At this juncture, the prince first provoked Xie Zuiqiao first, and was later suspected of making such a move.If it is true, if something happens to Miss Xie's family, then I'm afraid it will cause disputes.

An Du raised his head and saw Xie Zuiqiao staring at him with a gloomy face, knowing that the matter was of great importance, he didn't dare to be negligent, and immediately said: "Master Xie, don't worry, I will let you find it."

Mingyu coaxed the two children to go to bed, and persuaded Jiang Kui to go to rest too, so she stayed up with Chunyuan until dawn, and listened to the report from the servants, saying thank you for returning home.Hurriedly went over to inquire, seeing Xie Zuiqiao's tired face, and not seeing Xie Jingzhu behind him, his heart sank, and he mustered up his courage to tremble and say: "Jingzhu..."

Xie Zuiqiao shook his head and said nothing.

Ming Yu could only feel the buzzing in her ear drums. If Xie Zuiqiao hadn't held her up in time, she might have fallen down. When she regained her composure, tears couldn't stop rolling out, and she choked up, "What's wrong with her... ..."

Seeing her pale face, Xie Zuiqiao knew that it must be because of worry that she stayed up all night, and said softly, "Ayu, don't worry, people are still looking for her, Jingzhu will be fine."

Ming Yu couldn't say anything anymore, she just held her husband's sleeve tightly and wept silently on his body.

"My lord! Madame! The girl is back!"

Xie Zuiqiao was comforting Ming Yu in a low voice, when the door was knocked open with a bang, it was Gao Jun who rushed in regardless of etiquette, with a look of ecstasy.

Xie Zuiqiao and Ming Yu glanced at each other, then went out suddenly, and sure enough, they saw Xie Jingzhu standing at the door.The suit of clothes from yesterday was intact, and although his face was a little tired, he was smiling at his brother and sister-in-law.

Mingyu's tears just stopped rolled out again, this time because of joy, she ran to her side and held her arm, touched her up and down a few times, then wiped the tears on her face and said: "It's good to find it, it's good to find it..."

Xie Zuiqiao's expression was also relaxed, and a look of joy burst into his eyes, and he quickly asked: "Jingzhu, what happened, why did you disappear in the blink of an eye?"

Xie Jingzhu looked ashamed, and said in a low voice: "Brother and sister-in-law, it's all my fault, I made you worry..."

Gao Jun hurriedly said: "The girl was sent back by the old lady of a shepherd's family. Dao happened to meet her lost last night, so he wanted to send her back, but it was late at that time, so he kept the girl for the night. Sent it back early in the morning."

"But really?"

Xie Zuiqiao stared at his sister suspiciously.

Xie Jingzhu's face became slightly hot, she lowered her head and didn't dare to look into her brother's eyes, she just hummed lightly, and said: "Yesterday evening, there was chaos in the racecourse, I was scattered, and I couldn't find my way in a moment of panic, walking further and further away Fortunately, I met that old woman who kindly took me in for a night..."

When Ming Yu saw her talking, she kept twisting the tie in front of her skirt with both hands, hurriedly interrupted her, and said with a smile: "Just come back. You must have not slept well last night. My sister-in-law will take you to rest." Said He took her arm for a moment and wanted to go.

Xie Jingzhu heaved a sigh of relief, and quickly followed her with her head down.

Xie Zuiqiao looked at his younger sister's back, pondered for a moment, and ordered Gao Jun: "Reward the old lady with ten gold pieces. Tell everyone who went out to look for it to come back. This matter will stop here."

Gao Jun said, he hurriedly went down to deal with it.

Ming Yu asked Chun Yuan and others who had been with her all night to catch up on sleep, and she personally sent Xie Jingzhu back to her room, and asked the maids to bring her toilets.After freshening up and changing her homely clothes, and accompanied her with a bowl of milk soup, she urged her to go to the bed to recuperate her spirits. Seeing her looking at her, hesitant to speak, she said softly: "If you have something on your mind, , just tell your sister-in-law."

Xie Jingzhu bit her lower lip, and finally shook her head.

Ming Yu smiled, held her hand and said, "Go to sleep first."

Xie Jingzhu hummed, and watched Mingyu leave lightly.She felt very tired at this time, but she still didn't feel sleepy.Unknowingly, the face of the young boy from last night reappeared in his mind, looking at himself laughing unscrupulously, his eyes were as bright as the stars in the night sky on the grassland...Suddenly there was a sour-sweet boredom in his heart, and he hurriedly Closing his eyes hard, he pulled his head covered by the quilt, as if this would dispel this annoying memory.

Since Xie Jingzhu came back safely, everyone was relieved.The Tianshen Festival will continue, and Jiang Kui will continue to drag people around, feeling a little bit reluctant to leave.When Xie Jingzhu first arrived a few days ago, like Jiang Kui, he saw everything fresh, and followed him around, but these days he was a little absent-minded. After playing with Jiang Kui for two days, he reasoned that the sun was too big to go out. , only hiding in the mansion every day to accompany Zhi'er and Ah Zhi.

Ten days passed in a blink of an eye, and the Tenjin Festival was coming to an end.In the afternoon of this day, Ming Yu coaxed her son and daughter to take a nap.Xie Zuiqiao had something to do, so she went back to her room by herself, and she didn't feel sleepy. She took out a half-made underwear for her daughter a while ago, and was lowering her head to receive the last stitches when she suddenly heard footsteps behind her. Xie Jingzhu came over and waved to her with a smile.

Xie Jingzhu sat beside her, looked down at Mingyu pressing the stitches, and gently stroked the soft material of the little dress with both hands, but did not make a sound for a long time.

"Jingzhu, my sister-in-law told you before, if you have something on your mind, just feel free to tell me."

Ming Yu put down the needle and thread in her hand, looked at Xie Jingzhu and smiled.

Xie Jingzhu buried her face in her lap like a child. After a long while, she said sullenly: "Sister-in-law...I have something to do, I kept it from you and brother..."

Ming Yu stroked her black and soft hair, hummed, and said, "Your brother and I have already guessed it. It's just that you don't want to talk about it, so you didn't ask. If you feel bored in your heart, your sister-in-law will help you." your."

Xie Jingzhu raised her face, her cheeks were slightly red, and said in a low voice: "Sister-in-law, the night you were looking for me last time, I was not lost by myself, I was taken away by that bad boy..."

The horse race was frightened, and rushed towards the crowd like crazy, everyone hurriedly dodged, the scene was chaotic for a while, Xie Jingzhu was pushed away by the crowd, separated from Jiang Kuichunyuan and the others, and was about to go back to look for it, when he suddenly saw a five or six-year-old man a few steps away. The boy was tripped by a stone under his feet and fell to the ground, his mouth was flattened and he was crying.Fearing that someone would step on him, he was about to go over to help him up, when a person wearing a big hat bent down to pick up the doll, and threw a piece of malt candy into his hand.

There are vendors selling small snacks nearby, so the candy must have been bought.The little baby got the candy, and immediately held it tightly, with tears on his face, but his mouth was already grinning, revealing two big canine teeth.

Seeing that the little doll was interesting, Xie Jingzhu couldn't help laughing, and then looked at the man, who raised his head when he met him, raised the eaves of the hat slightly, and smiled at her, because his skin was brown and black, and his teeth were whiter, Glittering in the sunlight.

Xie Jingzhu's shock was no small matter, this person was actually the Xiting boy who provoked her brother in the morning and was robbed by her for nothing!Immediately tensed his face as if he hadn't seen it, turned his head to look for Jiang Kui Chunyuan and the others, but just as he took a step, his hand was grabbed from behind, he turned his head suddenly, and saw the young man leaning over, looking at them with a smile on his face. Own.

Xie Jingzhu has been here for a few days, and she knows that the people in the border town are open, and she often sees young men and women walking side by side openly, but this young man's behavior is naturally a great offense to her, and she wants to shake it off angrily, but the young man's hand is so strong It was so huge that not only could it not be shaken off, but it was held even tighter, like being pinched by iron pliers, and even a little painful.He was extremely ashamed and indignant, he wanted to shout, but he was afraid of embarrassing others, so he was in a stalemate, when he heard him whistle, the big black horse ran over, and before he could react, he had already swung him on top of him. He got off the horse's back, and the young man also turned on his back, and the horse galloped away.

This scene happened too suddenly, when Xie Jingzhu came back to his senses, the horse spirit had already left the group of people behind him far away in a blink of an eye.The young man allowed her to struggle and turn around and yelled a few times, urged the horse again, leaned into her ear and said, "If you move again, you will break your neck if you fall."

It was the first time in Xie Jingzhu's life that he sat on the back of a horse, and he just struggled in panic. At this moment when he reminded him, he caught a glimpse of himself high above the ground, and the horse under him flew forward like a cloud. After shaking for a while, he was restrained by an arm coming from behind him, and then he stabilized.

(End of this chapter)