The day is very hot. Although it is not yet May, the sun in Hexi is already extremely scorching, especially when it is just after noon. The scorching sun is baking the earth so much that green smoke rises, and the air close to the ground is so hot.
Water-like ripples appeared, and all kinds of birds and animals could not bear the torment of the scorching heat, so they all hid in the dense forest to enjoy the coolness. The wilderness was desolate everywhere, except for a Tuo team escorted by a large group of cavalry.
Walking slowly on the Gobi Desert, the sound of hoofbeats "bah, bah" sounded so tired and dragging. Xiao Wei, who was riding at the front of the group, looked even more energetic, with his head lowered and dizzy.
He sleepily let the horse move forward at will.
Tired, so tired. It’s really not a good job to travel in such hot weather. Poor Xiao Wei has never suffered like this in his two lifetimes. After nearly a month of marching, Xiao Wei’s pretty face has almost turned into a small one.
His face was dark, but he still had nowhere to complain - ever since he met Liu Zhenxiong on the bank of the Yellow River, Xiao Wei had been unfortunately caught as a young man. According to Liu Zhenxiong's words, as a general, you must be good at riding and shooting.
"Xi Junwu, Xiao Wei's unlucky days began. He had a comfortable and luxurious carriage but could not hide in it. Every day, as soon as the large group of people set off, Xiao Wei began the painful journey of being "drilled". After a while,
Either galloping on a horse, practicing equestrian skills, and then being carried by Liu Zhenxiong to practice riding and shooting, or in the name of practicing spear skills, he was surrounded by a group of soldiers. At the end of the day, he had not walked the distance.
How much, but the sweat that Classmate Xiao sheds has to be measured by a bucket, that is, in the short period after noon every day, he can take the opportunity to catch his breath. After a month of tossing like this, Classmate Xiao was very pleased to find that he was still able to
Living, of course, living is living, which is just one breath more than dead. Poor student Xiao is already at the limit of being able to sit firmly on the horse's back, and he has no energy left to do seven twists and threes.
"Xiao Wei, look, that's the center of Yanxi - Jinchang City!" Just when Xiao Wei was drowsy, Liu Zhenxiong, who was riding beside him, suddenly slapped Xiao Wei on the shoulder.
He announced loudly and proudly.
"Jinchang? We're here, we're finally here!" Xiao Wei suddenly raised his head, looked at the vague city wall in the distance of the Gobi Desert, and murmured, feeling a sense of relief in his heart.
[
Seeing Xiao Wei's excitement as if he had been released, Liu Zhenxiong narrowly blinked his eyes and said with a smile: "Here we are? Hey, it's still early. Counting the distance, we won't be there until this time tomorrow. Since I'm awake, then...
Then practice your spear skills."
"Ah..." When Xiao Wei heard this, he couldn't help but trembled and was dumbfounded.
"Hahaha..." Looking at Xiao Wei's silly look, Liu Zhenxiong couldn't help laughing loudly, and a group of generals following him also laughed loudly, and their rough laughter echoed in the empty Gobi Desert.
It echoed and drove away... Jinchang City, the capital of Guazhou, is rich in Cynomorium polygonum because of this. It is also called Cynomorium Cynomorium. It was built in the Han Dynasty and was originally named Kuyu City. After the Longxing of the Dayin Dynasty, in order to enter the Western Regions, this place was expanded massively.
The city was renamed Jinchang City. The city is divided into two parts, the inner and outer, covering an area of nearly forty miles. It is located on a large oasis in the Gobi Desert in Hexi Province. It has been the link between the Central Plains and the Western Regions since ancient times. It is impressive.
The famous Yumen Pass is less than fifty miles to the west of the city. Since the founding of the Dayin Dynasty, Jinchang City has been an important military town in the northwest. Since the Shunping Rebellion, Jinchang City has become a major military town in Yanxi.
It is the capital of the city, with a population of nearly 300,000. It is the largest city in the northwest. It is not only the center of military affairs, but also a place where merchants gather. There is an endless stream of camel caravans entering and leaving the city every day, which is very lively.
What's extraordinary is that today's Jinchang City is heavily guarded. The four gates are tightly closed. Only the east gate is wide open, but no one is allowed to enter or exit. A large number of high-ranking officials in the city gathered outside the city gate, surrounded by Liu Zhenying, the eldest son of the Liu family.
, burn incense to purify the way, and stand solemnly.
"I'm coming!"
"Look, it's coming!"
At four o'clock, a puff of smoke emerged from behind a low ridge at the far end of the avenue, and then the sound of horse hooves came along with the sound of the wind, and a group of Yanxi dignitaries who were waiting silently suddenly became commotion.
He stood up, and the whispers became louder.
Hearing the commotion coming from behind, Liu Zhenying, who had always had a dull face, frowned in displeasure and pretended to cough a few times without looking back. Although he did not speak, his dissatisfaction was expressed.
Suspicious, the group of dignitaries who were discussing indiscriminately stopped, but the eyes looking at Liu Zhenying's back were full of disdain.
Liu Zhenying never looked back, but even if he didn't look back, he could still feel the dissatisfaction of the powerful people behind him, but Liu Zhenying didn't care. In his opinion, those so-called powerful people were just incompetent worms.
, are just a group of ants parasitic on the big tree in Yanxi, but if you have military power in your hands, why should you worry about such a bunch of bastards? It is a pity that my old man has never handed over the military power, which makes Liu Zhenying hate him when he thinks about it.
His teeth were itching, and what made Liu Zhenying even more angry was that the old man actually asked him, an upright successor of Yanxi, to personally greet Xiao Wei, a dandy prince.
Who is Xiao Wei? He's just a scoundrel. He's both good and virtuous, but a loser! Thinking of the harm Xiao Rui brought to him, Liu Zhenying felt angry in his heart. He couldn't understand why his father was so solemn.
Liu Zhenying didn't want to welcome Xiao Wei from the bottom of his heart. It was a pity that he didn't dare to disobey his father's order. He reluctantly came. The anger in his heart was naturally very strong, and his face was gloomy.
On the ground, watching Xiao Wei and his entourage getting closer and closer, his face couldn't help but twitch slightly.
The speed of the cavalry was not slow, and they had rushed forward within a few moments. The first two cavalrymen were the nephews Liu Zhenxiong and Xiao Wei. When they saw Liu Zhenying standing in front of the dignitaries, the nephews and uncles did not dare to
Without hesitation, they each got off their horses and strode forward.
"Brother, long time no see." Liu Zhenxiong bowed respectfully to his brother, then he laughed, pulled Xiao Wei out and said, "Xiao Wei, why don't you hurry up and meet your uncle."
"Hello, uncle, Xiao Wei is here to greet you." From afar, Xiao Wei saw that Liu Zhenying's face was so stinky that it could kill flies, but he didn't know who this guy was targeting with such a stinky face.
Yes, he was muttering secretly in his heart. When Liu Zhenxiong said this, he had no choice but to stand up and salute respectfully and say hello.
"Well, it's good to be here. If you have anything to say, we can talk about it in the city." Liu Zhenying glanced at Xiao Wei and did not return the courtesy. He just nodded indifferently and replied in a calm tone.
Uh-huh, what's going on with this guy? I'm not welcome? Damn it, when did I offend you? Damn it! Seeing Liu Zhenying's cold reaction, Xiao Wei finally understood what this guy's bad face was.
It was directed at me, and while I was puzzled, I couldn't help but feel a little angry, so I simply smiled and stopped answering Liu Zhenying's words.
Why did Liu Zhenying act like this? Xiao Wei didn't know, but Liu Zhenxiong knew something about it. Seeing that something was not right in the atmosphere, he stood up with a smile and interrupted: "Xiao Wei, come, third uncle will introduce you to me, the hero of Yanxi."
Hey guys, this is Wang Changtai, the eldest son of the highest-ranking prince in Yanxi. He has a good family background and should be outstanding in both civil and military arts. Isn’t Xiaowei good at literature? You guys can have a good discussion with each other."
"I have met the young prince, and I have heard for a long time that his poetry is all over the world. I am very lucky to see him today." Wang Changtai is a fair young man, dressed in Confucian clothes, looking extremely elegant. When Liu Zhenxiong introduced himself, he smiled
Then he stood up and bowed to Xiao Wei with great humility.
"It's funny, it's funny. Xiao Wang is really a mediocre person. He doesn't deserve such praise from Brother Wang. Xiao Wang is still young and needs a lot of support from Brother Wang." Xiao Wei saw that this man was gentle and elegant, and he felt very fond of him.
Feeling good, he clasped his hands and returned the favor, and after being polite, Wang Changtai just smiled gently, stepped aside, and let a burly man stand up behind him.
"Xiaowei, this is Shi Fenggong, the eldest son of our Yanxi general Shi Wansheng. His martial arts skills make him unstoppable. Since you are good at riding and shooting, you can ask General Shi for help." Liu Zhen
When Yuichi saw the burly man standing up, he immediately introduced him with a smile.
"The young prince is also good at riding and shooting. Ha, that's good. One day, a certain family will invite the young prince to hunt with him and kill him happily!" Shi Fenggong was obviously a rough and arrogant person, and he laughed and proposed as soon as they met.
Invitation.[
Haha, what a big man! Seeing that Shi Fenggong was tall and tall and had a bold temperament, Xiao Wei asked him to go hunting. He thought highly of him, so he returned the favor with a smile: "
Okay, then it’s settled, Xiao Wang has a lot of fine wine, and after hunting, he should have a good drink with the general before he can have fun!"
"Hahaha... Okay, I'm so glad that I, Mr. Shi, have made you my friend!" Shi Fenggong saw that Xiao Wei didn't have the slightest air of being a prince, and acted straightforwardly. He was quite impressed in his heart, and he laughed and stretched out his big cattail leaf fan.
The palm of his hand made a high-five with Xiao Wei.
"This is Zhang Chaoyang of the Zhang family."
"This is Li Quan of the Li family."
Liu Zhenxiong introduced the top ten people from Yanxi dignitaries who came to greet Xiao Wei one by one. As everyone greeted each other, the scene was quite lively and harmonious, especially Xiao Wei did not show off to the prince at all.
His airs were greatly admired by the Yanxi dignitaries, and they chatted happily with each other. However, Liu Zhenying, who had been standing aside and watching coldly for a long time, was impatient. When he saw everyone surrounding Xiao Wei, Liu Zhenying's face
The color became more and more ugly, and he snorted with a dark face and said: "Third brother, that's enough. Father is still waiting at the house. I'll talk about it later. Let's go to the city!" As soon as the words fell,
Regardless of what others thought, he turned around, took the war horse from the hands of the guards around him, turned over, and led the guards towards the city.
"Alas..." Liu Zhenxiong saw his brother leaving without any regard for etiquette. He couldn't help shaking his head and sighing. He reached out and patted Xiao Wei on the shoulder and said, "Xiao Wei, let's go. Let's go back to the house and talk to him."
Full of loneliness.
"Okay, then let's go into the city. All gentlemen, please leave. Let Xiao Wang meet my grandpa, have a drink with you all, and say goodbye. Say goodbye." Upon hearing Liu Zhenxiong's words, Xiao Wei felt angry in his heart.
But he didn't bring it to his face. After bowing to all the Yanxi dignitaries, he and Liu Zhenxiong rode shoulder to shoulder into Jinchang City...