Volume 2: The Lake of Winter Chapter 259 Finally, I am old

According to the law of the Tang Dynasty, the soldiers who went out to Chang'an must go through the East City Gate, so the post station called the meritorious post station more than ten miles outside the East City Gate has become a very important place, the Tang Dynasty has been founded for a thousand years, I don't know how many famous generals and warriors, with glory and achievements passed by this place, the stables in the post station and the poplars on the side of the straight official road, I don't know how many historical pictures I have seen with my own eyes. [Full text reading.]

Xiahou looked at the Xiongcheng in the west, silent, according to the rules of the imperial court, he and his subordinates should spend the night in the meritorious post and enter the city early tomorrow morning, and then go directly to the palace to meet His Majesty.

Chang'an City in the twilight looks extremely majestic, the black and cyan city wall reflects the brilliance of the sunset, glowing with purple copper, it looks so indestructible, magnificent and extraordinary.

As one of the four most noble generals of the Tang Empire, Xiahou, who has been in the army for many years, naturally has deep feelings for Chang'an City, but not many people know that although he often returns to Beijing to report on his work, the general's mansion of the general of the Zhenjun is in Beicheng, but he has not lived in Chang'an City for much time.

For decades, he spent most of his time commanding tens of thousands of iron cavalry, stationed in the cold northern frontier, opening up territory for the empire, and threatening the cavalry of the Yan Kingdom and the Left Tent Palace.

Now that he has finally left the cold northern frontier, tens of thousands of iron cavalry have all stayed near the northeast military camp in Tuyang City, and the imperial court has appointed General Shu to take over, so there should be no problem.

Only a few dozen of his own soldiers came back with him, and the imperial court explicitly allowed him to bring more of his own soldiers back to Chang'an, but he was very cautious on the eve of his return to old age, and did not do these measures that might arouse the suspicion of Wenchen.

In order to reassure the imperial court, Xiahou's two sons are still in Chang'an City, confined to the general's mansion, and his wife, relatives and those loyal old servants have returned to their hometown in advance a few months ago, renovated the old fields, and took out pickles from the old cellar to dry, preparing to welcome his return to old age.

Of course, that is not Xiahou's real hometown, his real hometown is in the extreme northern cold region, that is the largest tribe of the desolate people, as the desolate people move south, he can never go back to that hometown, maybe since the day he betrayed Mingzong, he has not been able to go back.

"Gu Xi is dead, Lin Ling is dead, and many people who followed him back then are dead......"

As the sun sank, the sky became darker and darker, and the copper-colored Chang'an city wall was gradually painted with an ominous blood red, Xiahou squinted at that side, thinking about the gradual departure of his cronies at the cost of death over the years, and couldn't help but feel a little sentimental.

In the spring, the news of the death of Huang Xing and Yu Shuizhu spread from Chang'an City to the barracks, and this news did not make him sentimental, but made him a little vigilant.

Sentimentality and vigilance are not the emotions that a strong man should have, Xia Hou has been forcibly suppressing these emotions, so he began to feel tired and coughed in the twilight.

The Datang military is a place where the strong are worshipped, and if they are ordinary generals, they are never willing to cough in front of their subordinates and reveal their fragile side. But Xia Hou didn't care, because he knew how powerful he was in the eyes of his subordinates, and he knew that he was still strong.

Just like Xu Shi, the general of Zhenguo, he has been coughing for more than ten years, but he is still the first person in the Tang Dynasty military, whether it is prestige or His Majesty's favor, no one will ever replace him.

Xiahou coughed repeatedly, probably thinking that after entering Chang'an City tomorrow, he would be armorless and light, and he didn't even have the last trace of fear, so he coughed very happily and even seemed a little presumptuous.

Standing at the door of the post station, the pro-soldier captain looked at the general's generous figure in front of him, listening to the coughing sound, with a worried look on his face, in his eyes, the general was indeed still strong, but in the wasteland, he had seen several battles between the strong man of the Demon Sect and the general, so he was very worried.

At this moment, the ground outside the wall of the post station suddenly trembled slightly, neither the respectful officials in the post station nor Xiahou's personal guards noticed this trembling.

Although Xia Hou was a peak powerhouse of martial arts and one of the most powerful and terrifying men in the world, he was not a true god, so it was impossible for his cough to make the earth tremble.

He quietly looked at Chang'an City at sunset, then turned around and walked into the post station.

……

……

Someone was waiting for him in the inn room.

It was an extremely tall and burly man, half a head taller than Xiahou, with a solemn expression and a straight body, like an indestructible mountain.

This man was wearing a cloth robe, and traces of armor could be faintly seen under the thin fabric, and a solemn rune aura seeped out from under the cloth.

When Xia Hou stood in front of this mountain-like man, he was obviously shorter than the other party, but he felt more burly and powerful than the other party, so he didn't need to look up.

"If it is seen that Luo Kedi, the leader of the Xiling Temple's divine guards, suddenly appears in the post station closest to Chang'an City, it will definitely be considered a provocation to the Tang Dynasty. ”

He looked at the man coldly and said, "I know that you are a proud person, but do you really think that I don't have a master in the Tang Tianshu Division?" In this Chang'an City behind us, there are at least ten people who can easily kill you, and you appeared in front of me at this time, completely looking for death." ”

Luo Kedi said: "Since I dare to come, I am naturally not afraid of death, and in my opinion, General Xiahou, your return to Chang'an City is more like looking for death, can you come out alive again?"

Xiahou's expression remained unchanged, and he said indifferently: "In those small countries of the Southern Jin Dynasty and Song Yue, your status in the temple can allow you to gain infinite respect, but this is outside Chang'an City, in my eyes, you are just a dog raised in charge, what qualifications do you have to talk to me in this tone?"

A trace of anger flashed in the depths of Luo Kedi's eyes, but he forcibly suppressed it, and said with a sneer: "I admit that I am a dog raised by the master of the sect, and even if you are a male lion raised by Haotian, now that you have lost your sharpness and want to return to Chang'an City, do you really want to make your enemy happy?"

Xiahou shouted in a deep voice: "This is an agreement reached between General Ben and the academy, looking at the world, who dares to obstruct it? Even your master does not have this ability!"

"The temple would love to see General Xiahou have a good old age, but are you really willing?"

Luo Kedi took out a letter with a rune fire seal, handed it over, and said, "This is a personal letter from the master of the sect, and he invited the general to Xiling...... No, it's back to Xiling. ”

Xia Hou took the letter, and his expression still did not change.

Luo Kedi said: "The temple needs your strength very much, and the master of the sect said that returning to old age does not mean that you will live in the countryside forever, and there will always be a time to return." ”

Xia Hou looked at him, his two iron-like tough eyebrows raised slightly, and said, "What can you give me?"

Luo Kedi said: "Since you are loyal to the queen mother, then the Xiling Temple promises that in the future in the battle for the throne of the Tang Dynasty, the temple will do everything in its power to help the prince under the queen mother's knee succeed." ”

With the terrifying strength of the Xiling Temple, for a long time in advance, throwing out such a heavy bet with no room for room has to be said to be a very sincere invitation for Xiahou.

However, to Luo Kedi's surprise, in the face of the sincerity of the master of the sect, Xia Hou did not show the expected emotional reaction at all, but said directly: "Don't send it." ”

Roke suppressed his anger and said, "The temple needs an answer. ”

Xia Hou said: "I am very grateful, and then I will seriously consider it, this is the answer." ”

……

……

The ground of the meritorious post trembled slightly, and Luo Kedi left quietly, and the officials and people in Chang'an City who were preparing for the welcome ceremony probably would never know that the commander of the Shenwei of the Xiling Temple had come to Chang'an City and tried to lead General Xiahou to another path.

Looking at the handwritten letter from the Xiling Sect in his hand, Xia Hou showed a sneering smile on his face.

He knew that this was indeed a handwritten letter from the head of the sect, because over the years, he had received seven handwritten letters from the head of the sect, and he was very familiar with the handwriting on the cover of the letter.

What he ridiculed was the intention of the Xiling Temple-to help the queen's own prince ascend to the throne of the Tang Dynasty? If the Xiling Temple knew that the queen was his favorite sister Xia, and that the prince had half of the blood of the desolate man and the breath of Mingzong, would the big people in the temple still dare to do this?

The mocking smile on Xia Hou's face turned into self-deprecation faintly, and his fingers were slightly forced, ready to crush this handwritten letter from the Xiling Sect into powder, but he didn't know why, he hesitated for a moment and then stopped moving.

……

……

General Xiahou, who has been stationed in the north of the Tang Empire for decades, did not mention any conditions, and was willing to disarm and return to old age.

In the early morning, under the enthusiastic guidance of the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the loving gaze of the Yulin Army, Xiahou put on a brand new armor and rode to Chang'an City with dozens of personal soldiers.

The official road in front of the east gate of Chang'an City has already been sprinkled and cleaned, and in the solemn music, His Royal Highness Li Peiyan, the Prince of the Tang Dynasty, took hundreds of civil and military officials out of the city to wait, and countless celebrities in the city are waiting for him.

The imperial court had already prepared a will, waiting for Xiahou to enter the palace to present the decree, and at this time it was quietly resting in the palace under the will, with a dazzling reward and title.

Looking at the black crowd of welcome from afar, Xia Hou ignored the persuasion of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, turned over and dismounted in advance, and pulled Ma Jiang to walk towards that side.

His Royal Highness looked at this scene, shook his head with a smile, waved his hand away from the eunuchs beside him, and walked towards him at the same time.

In front of the exit pavilion outside the east gate, the two met.

Xiahou calmly saluted His Royal Highness the Prince.

Li Peiyan was a little difficult to calm down, looked at his dark face as iron, and said with emotion: "It's good to come back." ”

……

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The Tang courtiers did not like General Xiahou, who was known for his arrogance and extravagance.

Because for decades, it has been rumored in the world that Xiahou killed prisoners, indiscriminately killed innocents and pretended to be military exploits, I don't know how many Tang laws were violated, but there has been no evidence, and everyone knows that this general is deeply valued by the empress, so it is equivalent to saying that he is also very valued by His Majesty the Emperor.

Probably because of this reason, the people of Chang'an City do not love General Xiahou as sincerely as they do for the other three generals of the empire, although Xiahou did not kill the Tang people indiscriminately, but the people of Chang'an, who are simple and direct in thinking, always feel that violence is not a real skill.

After all, Xiahou has been stationed in the cold and bitter northern Xinjiang for the empire for decades, and he is still warmly welcomed by Chang'an City today, and the crowds on both sides of the street let out cheers and applause from time to time.

There was a teahouse on the side of the long street, and the shopkeeper and the men in the teahouse all ran out into the street to welcome the return of the general, and no one paid any attention to the business, but fortunately, there were not many guests in the teahouse itself at this time.

Ning Que and Sang Sang sat at the table by the window.

He listened to the cheers and applause coming from the long street, looked at the back of Xiahou who had just ridden past the teahouse, and said after a moment of silence: "Compared with Tuyang City, he is really much older. ”

……

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(Completed today, also completed this month, suddenly relaxed, just like today's Xiahou, tomorrow will not update much, because my father-in-law and mother-in-law came back from Yinchuan for vacation, I want to go back to my mother's house with the leader to meet, hug my fists, continue to ask you to vote for the monthly ticket and recommended votes to support, zero o'clock I will regularly send a single chapter to pull the monthly ticket, there are update reminders of friends, if you disturb sleep, please forgive me.) ）

*J

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