In the second year of Emperor Huai of Dongji, September 28.

Every year, the last three days of September are the autumn festival of the wild goose country.

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets, dancing and cheering, so as to kick off the prelude to autumn, among them, the autumn leaves city is the most lively.

The "Hyakyoha Festival" is the opening event of the Autumn Festival.

In the early morning, hundreds of majestic wild goose children pull floats with dozens of beautiful women stopping in front of them, and run back and forth around the main streets of Akiba Castle.

More than 100,000 onlookers will dance along the streets and throw prayer notes with wishes into the baskets on both sides of the floats, wishing for a good harvest in the coming year and for good weather.

After the opening ceremony, it was the "Dragon Boat Race".

Five strong men ride dragon boats through the river around the castle in Autumn Leaves, and the people along the banks will shout for them, and there will be a special person rhythmically beating the drums on each castle tower to cheer them on. Some adorable children will hold rattle-like gadgets in their hands and pinned a small windmill to their heads, accompanied by their families.

In the afternoon, the artists playing the flute have taken to the streets, and the forbidden army in the city at this time, accompanied by the ancient folk songs of the Yan Kingdom played by the artists, escorted the ceremonial carriage with the geisha to show the dance, and dozens of golden boys and girls carrying flower baskets walked at the front of the procession, scattering flower petals while singing the praises of peace.

Some of the usually deserted streets are filled with a gorgeous and lively atmosphere during these three days, and it lasts until the end of the autumn festival, during which time there is no reluctance to give up day and night.

Autumn Leaves City at night, the grand scenery belongs to the "Ten Thousand Lights" at night and the "Red Heart Lotus" in the tracing river.

At this time, people will release thousands of lights on both sides of the river to pray for the blessing of the living, and put the wooden lotus flowers burning with candles into the river, and watch the wooden lotus flowers carrying their thoughts for the deceased slowly flow to the deep abyss sea with the wind and waves.

If you look down from the sky, you will see that the river turns golden as it flows through Akiba Castle at night. It is the gold of longing, the gold of hope, the expectation of the living for the future, and the sorrow of the living for the deceased. At this time in previous years, Chu Qi, the lord of the Yan Kingdom, would come to the bank of the river, sing a song, and then release the first lantern and light the first lotus. As the lord of the country of Yan, he will personally pray for the blessings of the living, and pray for the soldiers who died in the war for the country of Yan over the years, wishing for good health in the next life and no more wars in the world.

But this year, he did not come in person, but asked Chu Yu to complete this solemn and sacred ceremony instead of him. If Yan Feng knew about this, he would definitely have to count Chu Qian.

Yan Feng was Chu Ran's close friend, and during Chu Ran's struggle for the throne of the Yan Dynasty, he funded him with hundreds of thousands of dollars in hundreds of thousands of cars, which not only relieved his immediate needs in time, but also allowed Chu Que to save the Yan Kingdom that was on the verge of survival at that time.

Yan Feng proved that there is nothing that money can't do.

That year, Yan Feng was not the president of the twenty-seven chambers of commerce in Tianqiong City.

At that time, Yan Feng was young and desperately running for president.

At that time, Tianqiong City's competition for the position of president was burning money.

This money was also life-saving money for Yan Feng, but in the end, Yan Feng chose to save Chu He first, because Yan Feng regarded him as a brother. It is precisely because of this that there is a life-and-death alliance between Qiongcheng and Yanguo today, which is the envy of the world. It can be said that without Yan Feng in the past, there would be no Chu He today, and there would be no Yan Country that is now ranked among the Seven Heroes of Dongji.

......

Duke Chu of Yanguo, one of the Seven Heroes of Dongji, is a prince who truly supports the Dongji royal family, but this does not affect his status as a fanatical admirer of the Chiyan warrior at the same time.

Chu Qi, who grew up listening to the heroic stories of Mu Jing, the founding emperor of the Ji Dynasty, and the Chiyan warriors, followed Mu Jing's way of governing the world after succeeding to the throne, and saved the Yan Kingdom, which was divided by the dispute over the heirs.

Later, during the "Chiyan Rebellion", Chu Que saddled his horse in front of the horse to protect the Dongji royal family, and in front of the righteousness of his family and country, he showed his sword to the Chiyan warriors he admired to show his loyalty to the Dongji royal family.

When the "Heavenly Fire Tribulation" caused the Xiji Eight Pillars Kingdom to take the opportunity to invade Dongji, he was the first to stand up and announce his support for the new emperor supported by Liang Yi, and he personally took the elite of the Yan Kingdom to Jingwei Pass to participate in the Dongji Seven Kingdoms Alliance.

The Duke of Yan Guo Chu and the Duke of Shu Guo Yun Chen are friends, but they are not close friends. They are heroes and heroes, why do you say that? Because in one point, these two lords are strikingly similar.

Every time there is a war, they will personally go into battle to kill the enemy, charge into battle, and take the lead, which is why those soldiers who follow them from birth to death will fight more bloodily. This is the same for Ao Chun, the lord of the Xia Kingdom.

After the First Battle of Jingwei Pass, Chu Qi did not immediately return to the Yan Kingdom.

As an important hero in this battle, the Duke of Yan Guo, who returned from the great victory, was summoned by the new emperor, and then stayed in the imperial capital for nearly a year, and during this period, the Yan Kingdom was mainly managed by his eldest son Chu Yan.

The five sons under Chu Qian's knees can be said to be all dragons and phoenixes among people.

The eldest son, Chu Yan, is thoughtful and the city is very deep. As the prince of the Yan Kingdom, he has lived in the Yan Kingdom for a long time and returned to Hongcheng. When Chu Yan led the elite of the Yan Kingdom to Jingwei Pass, the entire Yan Country was taken care of by Chu Yan.

The second son, Chu Yi, is righteous, benevolent, corporal Lixian, there are thousands of diners under the door, and he has three times with his own strength, repelling the invading armies of Xia and Handan, and sits in Shenwu City, the northern gateway of the Yan Kingdom, and is famous all the year round.

The third son, Chu Yu, a famous general in Dongji, is happy with the wind and the moon and red dust, and is good at making friends with celebrities and beauties. Occupy Autumn Leaf City in the western part of the Yan Kingdom, and be responsible for the diplomatic affairs of the Yan Kingdom and Qi and Luo.

Chu Ji, the lord of the four counties, runs the Purple Smoke City in the eastern part of the Yan Kingdom, is in charge of all kinds of complicated matters in the Yan Kingdom, coordinates the exchanges and economies between the five cities of the Yan Kingdom, and connects with Chu Xiao on matters related to Tianqiong City.

The fifth son, Chu Xiao, is in charge of Izumo City in the south of the Yan Kingdom, is cynical, likes to drink and play birds, listen to small songs, and is a lover. He is mainly responsible for contacting Tianqiong City, the first city in the world on the southern abyss sea, and docking with his fourth sister Chu Ji about Tianqiong City's related trade information.

During his stay in the imperial capital, the Duke of Yan Guo can be said to have been targeted by many forces. In addition to Liang Yi staring at him, there are also Xia Guo's eyes and the forces on Xiji's side watching him.

But none of these people got anything.

Many people thought that this loyal and patriotic Duke of Yan Guo really went to the imperial capital to respond to the summons of the new emperor. It wasn't until he left the imperial capital that he didn't find out that when he returned to the country of Yan, Chu Qi suddenly had another person by his side.

It was a young man with a wrinkled face on his face.

As we all know, the wind unicorn is the family crest of the Chu clan of the Yan Kingdom, and looking at the young man's haggard appearance and the scars on his skin, he should be a heavy prisoner who has been severely tortured all year round. However, the boy who seems to be weak, but his eyes are not weak at all, not only that, but also very deep, the kind of man-eating profundity.

Can you imagine that a child who looks no more than seventeen or eighteen years old would have such eyes, ordinary people usually don't think of it, but what is even more unexpected is that this Chu He actually gave this young man the "Fenglin Sword" that symbolizes the position of the head of the Chu family, and his action made everyone have strong suspicion and curiosity about this young man of unknown origin. People are thinking about what kind of relationship this severely tortured teenager will have with Chu Qi.

No one dared to ask Chu Ran, and Chu Que would not answer.

It's all in plain sight.

......

The midday sun was quite scorching, but fortunately, the wind back home was gentle. The dark blue armor was carved with subtle feathers, and the silk chain like a spider's web was used as a scabbard by these soldiers, wrapping the sharp long sword, and the cold eyes concealed the iron will. Several carriages with wind unicorns tattooed, escorted by these soldiers in goose feather armor, like a long dragon wrapped in battle armor, walked through the mountains.

The wheels circled and rolled over the bumpy and muddy mountain road, and in the carriage at the front, a middle-aged man with tired eyes woke up from his sleep. He stretched out his calloused hand and lifted the curtain slightly, only to see the glare of the sun only momentarily retract him into the carriage. The middle-aged man frowned slightly, and asked the groom who was driving, "How long will it take?" ”

The horseman hurriedly said respectfully: "Back to the lord of the country, we have just left the imperial capital, and we are still in the territory of the Luo country. At this rate, it is expected that when night falls, we will be able to enter the territory of our wild goose country. ”

The middle-aged man closed his tired eyes, as if he was closing his eyes to recuperate. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in days. Maybe it's because the autumn festival is coming, and the heart is like an arrow. On the sleeves of the dark robe, there are white roses on the left side, cardinals with fluttering wings on the right side, and the blue wind unicorn on the heart glare, and the rest is a little hollow, decorated by the five cities connected by gold threads.

The white rose is the family crest of the Bai family of the wild goose country,

The winged cardinal is the family crest of the Lin clan of the wild goose country.

The Lin family and the Bai family of the Yan Kingdom are the right-hand men of Chu.

It was precisely because of the Lin family and the Bai family's desperate bet on Chu that there was now a powerful Dongji Yan Kingdom. While pondering, Chu Qian raised his eyes to look at the young man with a wind unicorn on his face.

In fact, Chu Que was not the only one in the carriage carrying the lord of the Yan Kingdom, it stands to reason that the carriage in which the lord of the country rode could not be ridden by outsiders, but it seemed that in Chu Ran's eyes, the young man was not an outsider.

Chu Yu looked at the scars on the young man's body: "Are you hungry?" ”

The boy was silent, just looked at him coldly.

Chu Qi said with concern: "Your name is Chu Ci, right?"

The boy didn't speak, but when Chu Qi remembered the name. The originally cold eyes had a slight temperature in an instant, as if he was eager to be remembered by his name, and as if he was surprised at how the man in front of him knew his name.

Chu Qi: "You plan to ignore the widow all the time?"

The young man still didn't speak, Chu Qi closed his eyes with a wry smile, and then the young man spoke: "Chu Ci..."

Chu Yu didn't open his eyes when he heard this, but said: "Remember! In the future, the widow will be your father, and you have to listen to the widow whatever the widow says, the widow will not treat you badly, and there will be rewards for obedience!"

The young man looked at Chu Que suspiciously, as if he didn't understand what the word "father" in the mouth of the man in front of him meant, from the moment he was conscious, there were only cold water prisons and iron chains, and the punishment that would often beat him, until Chu Que fished him out of the water prison, he knew that outside this water prison, there was a piece of heaven and earth that he didn't know.

Chu He reminded: "If there is no widow, you will always be in the water prison of Jingguang City!

The teenager's gaze occasionally rounded: "Good"

At this time, the young general rode his horse and rode alongside the carriage.

Outside the carriage, the general said tentatively: "Is the lord awake?"

Chu Qi heard Yan Li's voice: "What's the matter?"

Yan Li: "Just now the spies reported that not long ago, the prince Yunfan, who had been missing for many years, suddenly returned, and brought back the Chiyan warriors, the remnants of the Sabu, and the bloody eyes and frosthoofs of the Zhenguo Divine Beast of the Su Kingdom. ”

Chu Qi: "I heard Xuanyi Wujian mention this news to the widow when I was in the imperial capital, but at that time, because the partition wall had ears, it was inconvenient to ask in detail." Yun Fan returned this time, how many Chiyan warriors did he bring back, is there any news?"

Yan Li: "Between five thousand and six thousand." ”

Chu Qi: "What is Xia Guo's attitude towards this?"

Yan Li: "The army of the Xia Kingdom is currently stationed on the border of Mingyue City, blocking the only route between the Shu Kingdom and the Northern Continent. ”

Chu Chu smiled: "Ao Chun is planning to catch turtles in the urn! What about the other vassal states, how do they react to this?"

Yan Li: "There is no movement on the side of Mexico for the time being, but Xiji's army seems to be assembling north of Jingwei Pass, and the specific intention is not clear." ”

Chu Qi: "Pay close attention to the movements of Xiji's side." ”

Yan Li: "Weichen will arrange it." ”

"Wait. ”

Chu Qi suddenly stopped Yan Li, who was about to leave.

Xiao Xiong's eyes fell on the Fenglin sword in the arms of the black-faced young man in the carriage, and it is said that this sword is the incarnation of one of the twelve divine beasts, the wind unicorn, but due to the age, this legend can no longer be verified, so that Chu Qi doubts whether there is really a wind unicorn in this world.

The battle-hardened lord of the Yan Kingdom was thinking that if the legend was true, then what would the true body of the divine beast Feng Qilin, which was guarding the bloodline of their Chu clan, be silent in the sword in the young man's arms at this moment. If the Wind Qilin fights with the blood-eyed frost hoof of the Shu Kingdom, who will be more powerful.

Chu Qi: "Is there any information about the bloody eye frost hoof?"

Yan Li: "Returning to the country lord, since Yun Fan brought that divine beast back to the kingdom of Shu, no one has seen it again, so there is information about the bloody eye frost hoof, which is incomplete for the time being, if it takes a little longer, it should be able to get it." ”

Chu Qi: "The widow asked casually. ”

Between the words, Xiao Xiong's sharp eyes touched the young man's cold gaze, and the scene was very embarrassing for a while, and the carriage was swaying and making Chu Qi a little drowsy: "Is there anything else?"

Yan Li: "No. ”

Chu Qi: "If there is more news about the Chiyan Warrior, remember to tell the widow, the widow is very curious about what the entire Dongji will become because of their reappearance." ”

Yan Li: "Huh." ”

With the sound of sonorous swords and armor, the general grabbed the reins and kept a certain distance from the carriage. The most at the junction of Luoguo and Yanguo is the mountains and rivers, which is already in the south-central region of the Ji Dynasty, but fortunately, the bumpy mountain road is just a journey, and all the ups and downs will eventually pass.

And before, Chu Qian planned to try to sleep again.

Perhaps, when you wake up, you will already be home.

......

In the past few days, Ye Qingrao was afraid that Meng Jian would cause trouble, so she looked at him very closely and didn't let him wander around, although Ye Qingrao planned to take him to the Chu family banquet on the day of the Autumn Festival, but she didn't promise Meng Jian that she would let him go out to take a look during the day, so poor Meng Jian could only lie on the top of the highest attic in Fengzhi and overlook the grand scene in Autumn Leaf City, while his two senior sisters were happily under the escort of those brocade-clothed men to experience the annual autumn festival.

For example, throwing floats and praying, watching dragon boat races, and Maiko parades through the streets, etc., etc., and Meng Jian could only imagine what interesting things were happening in Autumn Leaves City at this time, and the more he thought about it, the more angry he became. So Meng Jian ran downstairs and asked, "Master, I want to go out and go around." ”

"I'll talk about it in the evening. Ye Qingrao replied while writing a prayer letter.

Meng Jian: "Master, you promise me!"

Ye Qingrao: "I promised to take you out at the autumn festival, whether to bring it or not to release it." ”

Meng Jian: "Master, you don't trust me, more than 20 years of master-apprentice relationship!"

"Then, do you want to settle accounts with me," Ye Qingrao raised her eyes to look at Meng Jian, and Meng Jian was instantly stunned. "No, no, Master treats me with deep affection!"

"Keep blowing, don't stop. Ye Qingrao said casually, "I'll count how long you can blow it." ”

"No, no, I have had a toothache lately. Meng Jian smiled awkwardly.

Ye Qingrao: "I haven't been out for a few days, why do you have an old toothache when you come back." ”

Meng Jian: "This may have something to do with the fact that the autumn festival is coming!"

Ye Qingrao: "Gluttony, then I can't let you go." ”

"Why!" Meng Jian asked with some dissatisfaction.

"I heard that you have a toothache, and I'll help you treat it. Ye Qingrao smiled.

"My tooth doesn't hurt now, Master!" Meng Jian said.

"That's not going to work either. Ye Qingrao wrapped the written blessing into half a fist-sized brocade ball, and then continued to write the next prayer note busily.

Meng Jian: "Master, give me a chance!"

Ye Qingrao: "I'm not free, I'll talk about it later." ”

Meng Jian: "Master, I'm super obedient!"

Ye Qingrao: "I said, I'll take you out in the evening, and now you will stay at home honestly." ”

"What if I don't!" Meng Jian muttered quietly, but was still heard by Ye Qingrao. She glanced at Meng Jian, and then only felt a wave of true qi lingering Meng Jian between Ye Qingrao's eyelashes.

Meng Jian didn't know what was going on, but in an instant, dozens of acupuncture points on his body were all blocked by this true qi, and Meng Jian, who was planning to sneak away a moment ago, couldn't move at all at this moment. Meng Jian was shocked, he didn't expect the master to subdue him so easily without even waving his hand.

"Then stand there for a while and wait until I'm done. Ye Qingrao patted Meng Jian on the shoulder and continued to be busy with her business.

"Master?" Meng Jian regretted, but Ye Qingrao ignored him.

"Master, I know that I am wrong, Master!" Meng Jian repeated, "Master, Master!!, I really know my mistake!!"

"I can't hear clearly, stop shouting, save some strength. Ye Qingrao sighed and continued to busy her, "I'll talk about it when I'm done." ”

"Master—" Meng Jian looked at Ye Qingrao's back in despair. However, for Ye Qingrao, who has made up her mind, it is useless.

......

This year's autumn festival is indeed much more lively than in previous years.

With the great victory in the Battle of Jingwei Pass, there were gradually few wars between the countries of Dongji, at least in the east of Dongji, no vassal state dared to have any small friction with the Yan State. People say that soon Dongji will usher in a new prosperous era under the management of Liang Yi, the "lord of cloth clothes". However, it stands to reason that Liang Yi should not be called the lord of Buyi now, but should be called "Uncle Buyi".

At this moment, Bai Qiang and Yan Jing, who were no longer bothered by their little junior brother as a fetter, happily strolled through the lively streets of Autumn Leaves City under the protection of a group of brocade-clothed men. This year's Autumn Festival in Akiba Castle has attracted a lot of outsiders.

Some of these outsiders came from neighboring countries such as Luo, Qi and Mexico to participate in the grand event, and there were also some Yan people who came from other cities in the Yan Kingdom to join in the excitement (thinking that their own city was not noisy enough), and there were many enchanting foreign women who came from nowhere. These women dressed in black and mingled in the crowd, but they dotted the autumn leaves of the castle at this moment.

Because there are too many of these women, and they are as beautiful as flowers, it is inevitable that people will have some doubts about whether it is Chu Yu, the third son of the Duke of Yan Guo, in order to make this year's autumn festival more lively, so he specially invited these women from other places to present them to his father as a special surprise.

But in fact, Chu Yu really didn't know.

Before and after the autumn festival, Chu Yuke was busy to death.

As the lord of Akiba City, he has done everything in detail these days, and he will do everything himself. There was no time to think about some Fengyue things, if he hadn't bumped into Luo Ziling who was about to go out at this time in the mansion in advance, maybe he would have forgotten that there was still this beautiful woman in Gongzi's Mansion waiting for him to arrange a seat.

According to the past, Yan Feng, the president of the Tianqiong City Chamber of Commerce, would enter Autumn Leaves City in the early morning under the watchful eyes of everyone. When Yan Feng entered the city, the scene was quite heroic, as the president of the richest Tianqiong City Chamber of Commerce in the world, Yan Feng's team would start to sprinkle gold leaves along the way from the moment he entered Autumn Leaves City, all the way to the prince's mansion.

If it weren't for the fact that there was a special army in charge of maintaining order, it is estimated that not to mention how many fights would have occurred along the way, just the stampede might have made this lively autumn festival a little chaotic.

Basically, Yan Feng will come to such a show every year, when Yan Feng came to Autumn Leaves City for the first time, he almost turned this city into a "mourning city", if it weren't for the quick enough reaction of the soldiers around Chu Feng at that time, and timely control the "riot" caused by the robbery of money, it is estimated that this Chu He would have turned his face with Yan Feng at that time.

However, this year, this Yan Feng did not come, he was absent, the reason was not said, and he did not explain, not only that, but the head of the Bai family did not come, as if he had made an appointment to release the pigeons, which made everyone feel very abnormal and surprised.

After experiencing bumps along the way, Chu He, the Duke of Yanguo, who left early from the imperial capital, finally came back late. By the time he arrived at Akiba Castle, it was already nightfall, and many important events had not been made in time.

It stands to reason that if Chu Yan, as the lord of the country, failed to appear on these important annual occasions, it should be Chu Yan, who is the prince of the Yan Kingdom, to do these things instead of him, not Chu Yu.

The prince of Yanguo Chu opened the sedan curtain and looked at the street, and there were many foreign women dressed in black in Autumn Leaves City, all of whom were fair-skinned and slender. But the exhaustion of the journey made it impossible for him to immerse himself in this lively atmosphere, for the tired person, these bustles only felt noisy, and Chu He just wanted to rest.

However, this year is different from previous years, when Chu Yu rushed to the front line with the elite of the Yan Kingdom, Chu Yan, as the prince of the world, had the task of guarding the national capital, and there was no way to leave, so Chu Yu, as the city lord of Autumn Leaf City, experienced what it was like to be "in the limelight", and lit the lights of thousands of homes on the bank of the river, and let go of the red heart lotus.

And this Chu family banquet also started after Chu He sat down.