In a dense forest, the morning mist has not yet dissipated, and the night dew is shining crystal clear light on the tips of the grass blades. Seven or eight killers wearing ferocious ghost masks are slowly moving forward, inch by inch along the jungle.
As the search continued, the scope gradually narrowed.
On a branch, a raccoon with black fur suddenly began to sing. The clear and clear cry spread far in the silent mountain forest, carrying a somewhat chilling air.
Xia Houshu was like a stray little animal, crawling nervously and innocently in a bush, not daring to move. All she could see were dense thatch and bushes, and she had no way out like her current situation.
Retreat, there is no way to escape.
As the footsteps got closer, she could almost hear her own heartbeat and breathing.
When she was nervous, she quickly covered her mouth with one hand, and clutched a tuft of thatch tightly with the other hand as if asking for help, wishing she could even hide her breath and become part of the jungle.
Time passed little by little, and the sun slowly climbed above the head. The golden light shone through the gaps between the leaves, casting mottled patches on the ground. The interlacing of light and shadow gradually made the mountain forest come alive. The moist earth atmosphere was illuminated by the sunlight.
As the scorching heat stirred up, a thin white mist slowly rose up, lingering in the jungle and unable to dissipate for a long time. The mist was mixed with the unique fragrance of vegetation and the smell of decaying plants. The several smells were mixed together, and it smelled amazing.
A bit pungent and spicy.
As the sun burned, the fragrance of the vegetation gradually dissipated, but the smell of decay became stronger, pouring into the nose one by one, provoking its sense of smell unscrupulously.
After staying for a long time, Xia Houshu finally couldn't help but sneeze, which unsurprisingly attracted the killer from a distance.
The footsteps gradually came closer, and the rustle of clothes brushing against the plants seemed to be right in front of her eyes. The next second, a pair of cold, calloused hands would reach out from the grass and pick her up and tear her apart.
What should we do? The death of Nurse Zhuang is unknown, who else can come to save her?
Xia Houshu was so frightened that he trembled slightly, and his mind was racing. The ghost-faced man was getting closer and closer. The only way was to quickly change places and continue hiding, otherwise she would be discovered soon. However, she was too crawling.
Over time, my limbs have become numb from maintaining the same posture for a long time. As soon as I was ready to take action, I felt that my whole body was so stiff that I couldn't control it.
She tried several times but couldn't move even half a step.
Seeing the killer getting closer and closer, she was unable to move like a disabled person. This helpless feeling that the sky was not responding to her and the earth was not working made her feel very discouraged and sad.
Is she really going to die?
He didn't die during his mother's difficult childbirth, nor did he die as a frail and sick baby, nor did he die in the eight years of lonely waiting in Boyunguan, but he was going to die on the way home?
A sense of unwillingness and fear rising from her heart gradually took over her thinking. She could no longer think rationally. She only felt isolated and helpless. She froze in place as if she had been stabbed. She was so anxious that she broke into a cold sweat and tugged at her hand.
The few thatch sticks were almost uprooted by her.
Warm moisture overflowed from his eyes and dripped down his cheeks. The panic, resentment, and fear in his heart were all magnified infinitely.
She stayed in that Taoist temple that was almost isolated from the world for nearly eight years, looking forward to being reunited with her family as soon as possible and sharing a family relationship. Now her parents finally made up their mind to pick her up. She happily met Master and everyone
The senior sisters said goodbye, and it wasn't until they got on the carriage back to Beijing that they found a sense of reality. However, this joy did not last long, as they were ambushed.
Why does this happen?
Is it really like the prophecy that she is a disaster star destined to bring bad luck to herself and her family in this life?
If she died, wouldn't it make things difficult for her family?
Just when Xia Houshu was desperate, a little goat suddenly jumped out less than three meters away from her, and burrowed into the woods on the other side like an arrow, and then the silence returned.
The killers stopped and stared at the direction in which the goat disappeared. After they concluded that there was nothing suspicious here, they relaxed their vigilance and continued searching in another direction.
Listening to the footsteps slowly moving away, Xia Houshu's heart in her throat finally returned to its original position. She adjusted her breathing gently to relieve the fear radiating from her bones, then she arched her body slightly, changed her posture and continued to lurk.
.
This time of danger did not make her feel happy at all, but made her even more worried about the next situation.
Suddenly, there was a noise from behind, and something seemed to crawl up her back silently. A cold feeling penetrated all the way to the bottom of her heart, and the hairs all over her body stood up. She suppressed her fear, bit her head and turned her face slightly,
She raised her eyes, and before she could see clearly who was in front of her, she felt her chest suffocate, and an arrow penetrated straight into her chest...
"don't want--"
Xia Houshu woke up from his dream. The darkness before her eyes made her unable to tell whether it was reality or a dream. However, the moisture in the corners of her eyes was so real that even her heart felt like it was being tightly grasped.
After experiencing the assassination on her way back to Beijing when she was eight years old, she could not remember how many times she had repeated this dream.
There is always a vague figure in the dream. At the moment when the arrow pierces the chest, it is unclear whether he wants to save her or kill her.
Xia Houshu was born on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Jingtai. It was the coldest winter in the history of Nanqi. It started snowing before September, and the whole country was covered with ice and snow. There was no improvement for several months. Food, charcoal fires, cold clothes, etc. were all gone.
It was very in demand. But at this time, Beiyuan in the north and Xiyue in the west were disturbing the people on the border one after another as if they had agreed to do so. They burned, killed, looted and committed all kinds of evil. The people on the border were miserable and the imperial court had to send troops to quell the chaos.
At that time, the Duke of Yue's government, including the eldest eldest brother Xia Houyuan and the second eldest brother Xiahou Tan, and other capable soldiers were sent to two places to quell the rebellion, leaving only Zhong Yuqing who was about to give birth, the second eldest wife Zhang who had just given birth, and the sick third wife.
Fang Xiahouze and his young sons.
Beiyuan Kingdom has a vast and flat terrain, rich water and grass, and is mainly engaged in animal husbandry; Xiyue Kingdom is a high mountain country, with poor farming, but rich in gold and iron ores. In good years, both countries were the overlords who dominated one side, and
Nanqi is a tripartite country. However, in the face of natural disasters such as freezing, the disaster resistance is not as good as that of Nanqi, which mainly engages in farming, mulberry and weaving and has sufficient reserves.
The economy and people's livelihood of Beiyuan and Xiyue were severely damaged by this natural disaster. The powerful nobles hoarded food and cold-proof materials. Prices varied every day, and became more expensive every day, but the poor people only had
Being able to swallow his last breath unwillingly in the face of hunger and cold. The extreme imbalance intensified domestic conflicts, with endless fighting and robbery incidents, and constant disputes between clans and factions. After weighing the balance, the monarchs of the two countries set their sights on the fertile South.
Qi.
They hit it off almost immediately, so they deliberately allowed the border generals to lead their troops to harass Nanqi, creating friction and contradictions, causing the Nanqi defenders to rise up to resist. In this way, not only could they stop frequent domestic riots and direct attention and focus on the enemy, but they could also
They took the opportunity to seize supplies from Nanqi to fill their own vacancies. They planned that if Nanqi was overwhelmed by the cold, they could capture several cities in Nanqi to raise troops, and even take Nanqi into their pocket.
The border war was tense, with no results achieved for several months, and the trivial affairs of the Yue Kingdom Government were also complex and complicated.
First, the guards discovered that someone broke into the inner courtyard at night and disappeared mysteriously. However, no property was lost in the mansion, and there were no casualties. Then several children in the mansion fell ill one after another, with fever and vomiting.
Regarding his condition, doctors came to the house to inquire about his condition almost every day.
As the person in charge of the inner chamber of the family, Zhong Yuqing also has a big belly. She is worried and toiled all day long, and her life is very unstable.
One day, Prince Gong's Mansion suddenly sent someone to tell him that the illness of the prince's son, born to Princess Gong, had worsened, and even the palace doctors could not do anything. Princess Gong cried so much that she fainted.
Prince Gong’s Mansion went through great hardships to have an heir. Princess Gong endured a lot of hardships before giving birth to her legitimate son. She raised her like a pearl until she was twelve years old. However, she caught a cold in that cold winter and became sicker day by day. Now she has no cure.
.Zhong Yuqing was so anxious just thinking about it that she couldn't sit still. She didn't even care that she was pregnant. She hurriedly asked someone to buy a carriage and wanted to go back to her parents' home. However, she was stopped by a crazy Taoist priest at the gate.
.
The Taoist priest was dressed in rags and was so drunk that he could not even stand firmly while holding a wine gourd. However, he pointed at Zhong Yuqing's belly and said that the fetus in her belly was pregnant with evil spirits and would bring disaster to the whole government.
Cursing a child who has not yet been born and whose gender is not known for no reason is not the behavior of a gentleman. Zhong Yuqing was very angry after hearing this, but she still remembered her nephew and did not take the crazy Taoist priest's nonsense to heart.
Ask people to drive away the crazy Taoist priest.
Unexpectedly, the people around her were suspicious. Not only did they believe the crazy Taoist priest's words, they also spread the rumors.
In times of internal and external troubles, rumors spread extremely quickly, spreading like a plague in the Yue government. In every hidden corner, people were whispering, and even in public, some people couldn't help but turn their attention to
Zhong Yuqing's belly seemed to contain a savage beast that would make the whole house uneasy.
On the day of the Laba Festival, there was a rare bustle in the house. Zhong Yuqing ordered people to cook Laba porridge and distributed it to each room, and she also ate some. Unexpectedly, at night, she suddenly suffered from unbearable abdominal pain and her amniotic fluid broke. The situation was very critical.
Zhong Yuqing's delivery date was originally in the middle of the first month of the next year, and she had already arranged for Wen Po and the nanny to live in the mansion. However, because it was the Laba Festival that day, Zhong Yuqing thought that it was still far away from the delivery date. The current political situation was a border war, and supplies in Beijing were
It was also extremely scarce, so they rewarded Wenpo and the nanny with food and cold clothes, and allowed them to go home for the holidays and reunite with their families, hoping that she would give birth to children in the future, and they would work harder.
There was no one in the house who knew how to produce.
Zhong Yuqing had given birth to two children. Seeing that her condition was not good, she did not panic. Instead, she forced herself to call her personal nanny Fu Pei, housekeeper Li, second wife Zhang and the unmarried Xia Houze.
, and gave instructions one by one to explain the follow-up matters.
In the desperation, everyone forgot about the ugly and vicious rumors in the house, twisted into a tight rope, and took action one after another.
After receiving the order, Housekeeper Li sent three teams out, a pair of horses went to fetch the doctor, one team went to pick up Po Wen, and another team went to pick up the wet nurse. Aunt Fu Pei was responsible for mobilizing the people in the inner house and preparing the necessary materials for the birth in advance.
Hot water, scissors, ginseng soup, clothing materials and other items were provided to ensure Zhong Yuqing's safe delivery; Mrs. Zhang gathered all the children in the house and personally took care of them;
You can take advantage of this opportunity to ensure the peace of your home.
It was already midnight when Butler Li brought Po Wen back. Zhong Yuqing had been in pain for a long time and had already lost consciousness. However, when she was still a little conscious, she told Aunt Fu Pei to save the child in case of a critical situation.
That night, the entire Yue Kingdom Palace was brightly lit. Everyone was praying, hoping, and worrying, and their hearts were pulled into a crumpled rag.
With the concerted efforts of everyone, at dawn, a baby's cry finally came from the main house, breaking the tranquility of the night and bringing the dawn of dawn.
Although Zhong Yuqing fell asleep due to the prolonged labor and exhaustion of energy, there was no fear for her life.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
It was also on this day that the capital city of Nanqi, which had been covered in heavy snow for three months, ushered in its first sunny day, and the people in the city called it auspicious.
On the battlefield of Beiyuan, Xia Houyuan led his soldiers to achieve their first victory, captured the enemy's leader, and captured 2,000 enemy soldiers, forcing Beiyuan to surrender and sue for peace.
After the Beiyuan Kingdom withdrew its troops, the Xiyue Kingdom also surrendered due to insufficient food and grass supplies in the rear.
When Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Tan led their troops back to the court, it happened to coincide with the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. Emperor Jingtai held a banquet in the palace, worshiped heaven and earth, and prayed to the ancestral temple. The first was to pray that the cold disaster would pass as soon as possible, that the new year would have good weather, and that the people would live and work in peace and contentment. The second was to celebrate
The soldiers who put down the rebellion returned to the court in triumph and made great achievements in defending the territory.
After returning the military talisman, Xia Houyuan drank three glasses of wine at the palace banquet. Before the banquet was over, he informed the old emperor and hurried back to the Yue Duke's Mansion.
Seeing that everyone in the house was safe and sound, and that Zhong Yuqing was gradually recovering under the doctor's care, Xia Houyuan breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at his infant daughter, who was thin and immature and breathing weakly, he felt both distressed and happy, so he took care of her.
The name "Shu" means relieving danger and resolving difficulties, and turning adversity into good fortune.
But Xiahou Shu's name did not bring her good luck as her father expected.
Xia Houshu was a premature baby and was born thinner than his brothers and sisters. There is a folk saying that seven live and eight are not alive. Xia Houshu was less than nine months old when he was born, and he was born in such a cold season.
During the delivery process, she choked on her amniotic fluid, and she suffered from serious and minor illnesses. Xia Houyuan and his wife invited all the famous doctors in the capital to come for treatment, but they did not get better for a long time.
Later, a Taoist priest passed by the Yue Kingdom Palace and stood in front of the door muttering to himself. The concierge immediately recognized him as the mad Taoist priest who had stopped Princess Xuanhe's carriage and said that the child in her belly was destined to be evil.
Hearing him murmuring words like "fate" and "bad luck" again, he couldn't help but think of all kinds of weird things and rumors in the house in the past six months, and was horrified. He was worried that the crazy Taoist priest would ruin the master's family by talking everywhere.
Because of his reputation, he was also afraid that there was really something evil in the house. He couldn't make up his mind for a while, so he invited the crazy Taoist priest in and asked him to watch over him, while he quickly reported it to the steward.
As a military general, Xia Houyuan had countless enemy soldiers who fell under his sword. He never believed the lies of the charlatans. However, when he saw the crazy Taoist priest, he told the strange things that had happened in the mansion in the past year without asking any more questions.
After learning the birth date of Xia Houshu, I couldn't help but start to wonder.
The mad Taoist priest didn't care about Xia Houyuan's attitude, and didn't say much else. He only said that Xia Houshu's fate could not bear the wealth and wealth, and he must be sent to a Taoist temple to practice cultivation in order to save his bad luck and maintain peace forever.
After saying that, he turned around and left without taking any money.
After the mad Taoist priest left, Xia Houshu remained ill for more than half a month, crying day and night. Zhong Yuqing had just given birth and was suffering from heavy losses. She had to take care of a sick child, and she was so thin that she lost her human shape.
Xia Houyuan couldn't bear the suffering of his wife and didn't want the rumors to continue to spread, so he had to shed tears and let people send Xia Houshu away.
So Xiahou Shu, who was less than half a year old, was sent to Boyunguan not far from the capital, where he spent eight years without disaster. Until Xiahou Xi died unfortunately on the battlefield of Beiyuan, the Xiahou family suffered many hardships.
After the attack and assassination, Xiahou Yuan suddenly remembered his little daughter who was far away in Boyunguan. He did not want his daughter to be homeless and unable to return home, so he ordered Xia Houshu to be taken back to the Yue Kingdom Palace despite the rumors.
On the way back to Beijing, Xia Houshu was filled with joy, but unexpectedly he was ambushed by assassins on the way.
The leader of the escort who went to pick her up was Zhuang Hua. He was a very handsome and alert man. Xia Houshu had an inexplicable trust in him as soon as he saw him.
Zhuang Hua indeed deserved her trust and tried his best to protect her.
However, there were many assassins, and most of them were quickly knocked down. Zhuang Hua was also hit by an arrow in order to protect her. Blood flowed out along the wound, staining the clothes on his chest red, but he didn't say a word.
He didn't say a word. Later, when Zhuang Hua saw the assassins rushing up one after another, he was worried that he could not protect Xia Houshu, so he took her off the carriage and hid her in a bush, while he drove the carriage and fell into it.
cliff……
Half asleep and half awake, Xia Houshu seemed to have memories and dreams clutching his throat. He was in pain and struggling, but he couldn't escape.
It took a long time for her to realize that this was the Duke's Mansion of the State of Yue. She was in her room. There was no ghost-faced man or the arrow of unknown origin.
And she is no longer the helpless little girl she once was. This chapter has been completed!