Then Fan Zhanghou suddenly discovered that Chen Wang seemed to be in a trance.
"One part of the millet fragrance lingers around the beam, two parts of the flowing water, the cool weather, three parts of the fragrance of apricot flowers. A spring thunder buries a jar, after eighteen years, the daughter is red, the daughter smiles, the daughter is delicate, the new wine becomes old wine, the little girl is waiting to wear the red dress... "
Fan Zhanghou closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the pipa and the woman singing. He finally sighed softly. The ending of this song was not as beautiful as the name of the wine.
The woman in the song had waited for many years, but still did not meet the young master who was far away. She also did not wear the red dress for another man, and died just like that.
According to custom, if the woman in the family died before she was married, then the jar of daughter's red wine would be called Huadiao, and would be taken out and drunk.
At the end of the song, it was said that the young master had finally returned home. Although he was the top scholar, he could only drink the jar of wine alone at the grave.
After Fan Zhanghou opened his eyes, he could not see anything strange from Chen Wang's face.
The song ended, and the people gradually dispersed.
There was no need for Fan Zhanghou to ask. Someone had taken the initiative to lend him a fine horse. When Fan Zhanghou mounted the horse, he inadvertently turned his head and saw Chen Wang standing outside the pavilion. He seemed to have said something to the little girl singing, and then walked towards the carriage.
Fan Zhanghou didn't have the slightest intention of probing further. With Chen Wang's well-known conduct and Fan Zhanghou's understanding of this Chen Shaobao, he definitely didn't think that this Left Scattered Cavalry Regular Attendant would have the slightest intention of taking advantage of him.
Fan Zhanghou slowly rode his horse.
Back then, he was far away in the Jianghu, and now he was high up in the imperial court.
Benevolent teacher, even that Sun Yin wants to be an official. Although I, Fan Zhanghou, cannot play your game of spring and autumn, but I will do my best to play my own game of chess well.
In the distance, Chen Wang boarded the carriage. Before boarding, he asked the woman holding the pipa a question. He asked her if the young master in the song was better off not returning at all if he returned late.
The woman was timid, and did not know how to answer. Chen Wang did not mean it, so he bid farewell and left.
Chen Wang slumped against the wall of the carriage.
Even when he married that noble surnamed Zhao back then, even when his father-in-law was a duke of a county, Chen Wang did not drink at the wedding banquet. For this reason, many of the noble sons of the Zhao clan who attended the wedding had mocked and ridiculed him. However, after so many years, he, Chen Wang, had swept through the various departments of the capital, leaping through the dragon gate time and time again. Not to mention those unaccomplished noble sons, even those powerful dukes and county kings only dared to sit on equal footing with him.
Today, Chen Wang actually brought back a small bottle of wine.
Just yesterday, he had received a secret intelligence report verbally. There were only four words in the message: dead. He felt guilty.
Beiliang was the one who felt guilty.
Already dead.
She was just like the pitiful woman in the song who waited from Nu 'er Hong to Hua Diao, but did not see anyone.
In the south of Jiangnan, it rained every family during the Huang Mei season.
In the north of the northwest, the reeds were fluttering.
Chen Wang drank the wine one mouthful after another.
Silently, he drank without stopping, and his tears flowed without stopping.
At the time, Chen Wang's first thought was to vent his anger on that young vassal king, to vent his anger on the entire Beiliang, where he had long had nothing to worry about.
Everything he had done these years, apart from the silver back then and the kindness of recognizing his worth, was more because she was in Beiliang. He hoped for Beiliang's stability. In the end, he only hoped for her to be stable. For this reason, he was not afraid of accompanying a monarch was like accompanying a tiger, not afraid of the treacherous clouds of officialdom. This extremely patient man was only afraid that he would talk in his sleep and call out that name.
However, in the end, he, who could rely on his own words to change the world's copyright, who could persuade the emperor to increase his efforts to restrict the transport of grain, did nothing.
On the official road, under the curtain of night, in the carriage, there was a man who might become the second Grand Secretary Zhang of Liyang. He was like a child, wailing loudly.
— —
If one were to say that the first year of Xiangfu was a year that left the Liyang orthodox faction shocked, but they still had a card up their sleeve, then the second year of Xiangfu was a year where wind and rain covered the sky, making people gradually feel uneasy.
In the late spring of this year, under Cao Changqing's personal leadership, the West Chu rebels' arrogance reached the heavens. King of Jing 'an, Zhao Xun's Qingzhou Navy couldn't rescue them in time, the vassal king Zhao Yi's Guangling Navy was completely wiped out. This also directly led to the balance of power that Song Li had won with great difficulty in Guangling Province being easily broken on the surface of the Guangling River. What was even more worrying was that the most important reinforcements of the Southern Border's elite army, after the Qingzhou Navy, whose battle strength was inferior to Guangling's, had no choice but to avoid them, they could only disembark from a few narrow crossings in the upper reaches of the Guangling River. At the same time, the vassal king Zhao Yi, who had lost all of his naval forces, was defeated like a landslide. Following Xie Xi personally taking charge of the eastern front, coordinating with the West Chu Navy down the river, the remnants of Zhao Yi's army could only turtle up in a corner. The territory they seized back from Song Li's hands seemed to have been handed over with both hands. The battle on the river affected the entire body. The Southern Expedition Commander Lu Shengxiang's army had no choice but to stop and defend a few key points in place to prevent West Chu Xie Xi Xi from leading his troops up north to take advantage of the situation to counterattack. This naturally caused the Liyang imperial court's original plan of a pincer attack from the north and south to the east and west to surround West Chu's capital to the point that not even a drop of water could trickle through, to become a dream.
Fortunately, during this time of turmoil, there was still a gathering at the Xinran Pavilion in the capital. This meant that the people's hearts were still stable. Furthermore, Chen Zhibao received the imperial edict and personally led ten thousand elite troops out of Shu. Furthermore, on the two Liaodong Fronts and the northern border of Ji Province, the great Pillar State Gu Jiantang and the new general of Ji Province, Yuan Tingshan, had won a series of beautiful battles.
At noon, on the surface of the Guangling River, several large turreted ships that had recently been changed to flying the flag with the character 'Jiang' on it went against the current. They did not stop at the river outside West Chu's capital, but instead continued to sail up the river. These warships were all seized from Guangling Prince Zhao Yi during the battle on the river. It was funny to say that these few turreted ships, which were supposed to display great power during the battle, were almost undamaged before the change of owners. On one of the towering turreted ships in the middle, there was a group of people leaning against the railing. There was a man with white hair on his temples, wearing a green robe that was the most elegant under the heavens. There was a young woman carrying a purple sword box on her back that was peerless in her generation. There were also military generals clad in armor. Each of them was high-spirited and vigorous, with a strict bearing. There was also a group of civil officials who had temporarily boarded the ship from the capital to enjoy the scenery, chatting and laughing. Among them, there were two young men who were the most eye-catching. If their identities were not taken into consideration, one of them had an ordinary appearance and a reserved bearing. He was only eye-catching because of the position he was standing in. He was standing beside the middle-aged man in green robe, frowning faintly. He was very different from the rest of the military generals and civil officials on the ship. The other young man made everyone's eyes brighten. They could not help but marvel at the fact that there was such a handsome man in the world. Wearing a white robe and a jade belt, he stood against the wind like a god or an immortal, enough to make others feel ashamed of their inferiority.
The four people closest to the bow of the ship were Cao Changqing, Jiang Ni, Xie Xibian, and Song Maolin.
At present, Xie Xibian's reputation in the imperial court of Liyang was extremely great. Even the common people had heard that an extraordinary genius general had emerged from the rebel army of West Chu. He had the bearing of a soldier of the Spring and Autumn Period, Ye Baikui.
As for Song Maolin, although he was a late bloomer in the imperial court of West Chu, he was not inferior to Xie Xibian, who had established brilliant military achievements. The two of them, one in civil and the other in military, were known as the Twin Jade Annulus of Da Chu. Because of Song Maolin's outstanding appearance, he was like an immortal banished from the world. In addition to his brilliant literary talent, other than being known as the Twin Jade Annulus of Da Chu, he was also known as the Northern Xu and the Southern Song Dynasty together with the Northwest Vassal King. Song Maolin was born into a rich and powerful family, so he was probably a true proud son of heaven.
The main pillar of West Chu, Cao Changqing, whose hair was even more white, suddenly turned his head to Xie Xibian and laughed in a low voice. "What's wrong? It wasn't easy to chase away Song Li, but in the end, Chen Zhibao from the east came to the Qingzhou Navy, Wu Zhongxuan from the south, and Lu Shengxiang from the north is also truly in control of military power. Do you think the fierce battle has just begun?"
Xie Xibian said softly, "If General Kou was still here, it would be much better."
Cao Changqing laughed casually. "Don't worry about that guy. He has a big temper … yes, and his heart is not small either."
Xie Xibian was silent, as if he was afraid of something taboo.
Cao Changqing sighed. "Last year, Old Grand Preceptor Sun said that West Chu was a burden to me, Cao Changqing. Today, I also want to say something to you. It is I, Cao Changqing, who is a burden to you, my student."
Xie Xibian shook his head. "Teacher, you must not think this way. I have been a citizen of Da Chu for generations. Da Chu was born in Xie Xibian, and I am willing to die for it."
Cao Changqing suddenly laughed. "There is a young man who should really get to know you. Only then will he know what it means to be a scholar. That guy, back in the day, had a lot of resentment towards us scholars. In Gangnam-do, the first time he saw Tangxi Sword Immortal Lu Baijie, he asked, 'Teacher, can you sell me a few pounds of benevolence, righteousness, and morals?' When he saw me, he did not have a good expression either. "
Xie Xibian was puzzled. "But I have seen Beiliang's various actions. They have established academies within their borders, and are very kind to scholars. The new Prince of Liang does not seem like this kind of person."
Cao Changqing smiled knowingly. "Perhaps it is because a man has a burden on his shoulders, so he cannot do as he pleases. No matter what, Hsu Fengnian is indeed the most interesting young man I have seen in my life. There is no one like him. "
Afterwards, Cao Zhangqing suddenly laughed to himself and said in self-mockery, "Even if I, Cao Zhangqing, praise him like this, Xu Fengnian wouldn't feel the slightest bit of honor. After all, he is the number one vassal king of Li Yang who commands three hundred thousand cavalry, and at the same time, he is also a martial arts grandmaster on par with me, Cao Guanzi. So no matter how many good words I say, it can only be considered as mutual appreciation? To be honest, when I first saw that kid a few years ago, I never would have thought that the situation would be like today. If I had known, I would have beaten him up back then. Now that I am talking about it with you, it is easier to brag. "
Xie Xibian felt a little sad for no reason. Although his teacher was always easy to get along with, he was not such a talkative elder.
Cao Changqing seemed to have seen through Xie Xibian's thoughts. He patted the young man's shoulder and smiled. "When young people do young things, it is fine to be frivolous. There is no harm in saying that you are worried about new words. When you are thirty, you can do things that are responsible. As for people like me who are old, they should honestly admit that they are old. Occasionally taking advantage of my seniority is one of the few pleasures in life. "
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