There is a lively event in the city of Xinjiang in the royal capital these days, on the 28th day, the Duke of Jin personally went out of the city to greet the victorious returning general, the king and the general sat in the same car, behind him is the very magnificent king driving the guard of honor and the soldiers who returned from the expedition, the royal flag fluttering, the iron armor is zhengzheng, the people are embracing each other, so not magnificent!

The next day, the carriage and horses that came out of the General's Mansion stopped outside the Fan Mansion. Fan's third son, Fan Jishe, took his nephew Fan Ming to open the door of the mansion to welcome guests.

Inside the Myoken Garden

"Madam", Luo Ying came in with a bead curtain from outside, with a happy face, and reported with a smile to Shi Miaoshu who was drinking rock sugar bird's nest, "Madam, General Xia came to visit the mansion today, and people have already come, and they are talking to the boss." ”。

Shi Miaoshu paused with the spoon in her hand, and then scooped the bird's nest in the bowl for a while, for a long time, she put the bowl down, the corner of her right mouth curled up a smile, and slowly said, "I won't go to this banquet, just say I'm unwell." ”

"Madame not going? You and the general haven't seen each other for a long time. Luo Ying pretended to be surprised, but her face was still smiling.

Shi Miaoshu pushed open the window and looked at the red plum blossoms outside the window, she stroked the fiery red plum blossoms, "The plum blossoms in the yard are blooming so well this year, but the most beautiful thing is this tree." As he spoke, he broke off the most gorgeous branch and inserted it into the white jade bottle by the window, "Come and don't be rude, you run an errand for me." ”

Luo Ying covered her lips and smiled, "The slave obeys." ”

At this time, under the main house of the Fan family's mansion, Fan Ying, the lord of the Fan family and the Zhengqing of the Jin Kingdom, sat in the first place, and on both sides of his head sat his son Fan Jishu and Xia Qian, who had come to visit the mansion today.

Xia is tall and vigorous, with a broad and handsome appearance, with a short beard, eyes as sharp as a goshawk, and a dark complexion, at first glance, it is a complexion that has been tempered by the battlefield for a long time, with roughness and wildness.

Xia Qian saluted Fan Ying and said, "Boss, the junior has just come back from Weicheng to return to the king, I heard that the adult's leg disease has recurred, and he has not been able to enter the palace for more than a month. ”

Fan Ying smiled and said, "It's not a big deal, the old man is old, this leg hurts for a while every year, but you, who have repeatedly frustrated the Rong clan, the king values it very much, and the future must be limitless." ”

"Lord Zhengqing, where is this, my summer money can have today, all thanks to the help of adults." Xia Qian took out a box from his arms, "The junior got a treasure from Xirong, please smile at it." As he spoke, he opened the box, and there was a child's fist-sized bead lying on the black brocade, the bead was fiery red all over, and the rich red was full of golden brilliance.

Even if he read all the treasures in the world, Fan Jishu couldn't hide his surprise at this time, and exclaimed: "Brother Wen, this, isn't this the legendary treasure of the Rong clan, the Fire Phoenix Pearl?" ”

Fan Ming sat under his uncle and stretched his neck to look. He had also heard people talk about the name of the Fire Phoenix Bead, which was said to be priceless and the treasure of Xirong.

"Good eyesight, it's Huo Fengzhu." Wenzhi is the word of Xia, Fan Jishu has known him for many years, and he is familiar with each other. Xia Qian nodded, looked at Fan Ying again, and said earnestly, "Fan's family has a great kindness to me, no matter how much Wen Zhi repays it, he can't repay the kindness of adults, and now that he has this treasure, Wen Zhi will never dare to keep it privately, and specially bring it to the adults to enjoy one or two." ”

Fan Jishu looked at the bead more and more carefully, and the more he looked at it, the more he realized that this bead was worthy of being a peerless treasure.

Fan Ming looked at it from a distance, and also felt that the beads were very wonderful, fiery red, with a wisp of gold. Fan Ming looked at Huo Fengzhu and couldn't help but think of his cousin Mingyun. It's a pity that such a good-looking baby, Jun Mei didn't see it for the first time. Waiting for the banquet to disperse, I must call Sister Yun to go and see the strangeness.

Fan Ying gathered his fur fur, laughed a few times, and said: "Wen Zhi has a heart", after that, he picked up this fire phoenix dzi and pointed it to the light, looking at the faint light of the beads blooming in the sun, and said slowly, "You have been in the bitter cold of the frontier for many years, and when you come back this time, don't go again, although the big sect of the Xia clan has fallen into your hands, but several small sect branches are still eyeing each other, and there are frequent changes", he put down the beads as he spoke, and looked at Xia with a pair of old but sharp eyes, "Especially the one in Luyang, which is frequently connected with the Zhao family, if it can't be collected as used, It will be a great trouble in the future. Wenzhi, when it's time to sort it out, you can't be soft. ”

"Wen Zhi understands." Xia Qian nodded solemnly.

Xia is the great descendant of the Xia family. Although the Xia clan is not as large as the six major families, its strength should not be underestimated, especially after the old sect master of the Xia clan was sick, Xia Qian began to do the main clan affairs, and in the past few years, the Xia clan's power has expanded very rapidly.

And Xia Qian himself did have a relationship with Fan.

At that time, the internal fighting of the Xia clan was fierce, Xia Qian was persecuted by his brothers of the same clan, and fled all the way to Xinjiang, escaped all the way to embarrassment, and his entourage was all dead, leaving him alone, with injuries on his body, he was drenched in the rain and sick, and without papers, he couldn't enter the capital, so he could only hide in a swill car and mix into the city.

Under the injury, he fainted and died in the swill car, and followed the car into the Fan family's mansion.

A suspicious person covered in wounds and hiding in a swill cart, who should have been executed directly, did not know where he was at the time, and with a sense of life, he broke free from the manservant who held him down, and began to run wildly in Fan's mansion like a fly without a head. His actions alarmed the palace guards, who thought there were Assassins.

He was exhausted, and he heard the sound of the bow and arrow breaking through the air, and his dilated pupils reflected a feathered arrow that flew towards him, and he couldn't dodge it, and just when he thought that his life was over, another feathered arrow came, and it happened to hit the one that was shooting at him.

He looked over, only to see that it was a girl wearing a scarlet big sleeve curved skirt, at that moment she was still in the posture of shooting arrows, her long hair was blown by the wind, and the corners of her red sleeves were flying.

Thinking of this, Xia Qian sighed in his heart.

At noon, some official matters were also considered to be discussed, Fan Jishu and Xia Qian had known each other when they were teenagers, and after many years of separation, they also began to reminisce about the past and talked happily.

"Wenzhi, I set up a reception banquet for you today, I specially got the old wine out of the cellar, let's have a good drink today, reminisce about the old days, what do you think?" Fan Jichu invited with a smile.

Xia Qian laughed heartily and replied, "Don't say anything else, just rush to this old wine, I will definitely give you face, our brothers haven't seen each other for many years, we must have a good drink today, don't get drunk and don't return." ”

The banquet is placed in Hefeng Hall, which is the place where the guests are entertained in the house, from the courtyard to the main hall, it is extremely spacious.

At this time, the seats have been set up in the main hall of Hefeng Hall, the bronze incense burner of the Rui Beast is bubbling with a curling aroma, and the singers and dancers in the side room have all been dressed up, making preparations for the final arrival, everything is in order, just waiting for the host to come to the banquet.

Fan Ying is getting older and doesn't like to be lively, so he rarely participates in ordinary banquets, and only tells Fan Jishu to entertain him well.

From the main hall of the Fan Mansion to the banquet hall, they had to pass through a long corridor, and Fan Jishu and Xia Qian walked side by side on the corridor, talking about some old things about the past. The rockery outside the promenade is covered with snow, and the snowflakes are still floating, covering the lush pines and cypresses with a new layer of floating snow.

"Big brother has been doing well lately, the last time I came back, my eldest brother traveled in Qi country, and I haven't seen my eldest brother for seven or eight years." Xia asked with emotion. The eldest brother in his mouth is Fan Jihui, the eldest son of the Fan family, and is the father of Fan Ming, the eldest grandson of the Fan family. Among the Fan family, he and Fan Jihui are the most compatible, the two have a very good relationship, Fan Jihua is the third son of the grandson, is considered the younger brother, when they were young, they often raced horses together in the racecourse, hunted in the mountains, but to this day, it is rare to see each other for several years. At that time, we were young, but now that we are getting older, everyone is no longer what they used to be.

Fan Ji shot his hair with a golden crown now, his majesty was growing, he was dressed in an ink-colored wide-sleeved deep robe, and a winter robe covered with a dark purple sable collar, and his eyes gradually became more indescribably deep and cold.

Fan Jichu smiled, "The eldest brother has always been unrestrained, in September, he went to Lu to visit Xiao Sikong, counting the time, and now he is on the way back." This time, you can also stay in Xinjiang for a little longer, and when the eldest brother comes back, our brothers will get together again. ”

"I have heard of Mr. Kong's talent, and I have always wanted to visit him in person, but I have no chance. When my eldest brother comes back, I will catch him and have a good chat. Xia Qian said.

As for the banquet hall of Hefeng Hall, there are already many people seated in it, these people have familiar old people, and there are also some new faces in the court, and many people have brought their children and nephews to the banquet together. When the people in the banquet hall saw Fan Jishu and Xia Qian coming in, they all got up one after another to salute, some came to reminisce about the old days, and some came to greet each other, and for a while, the scene was very lively.

"Ahem", accompanied by a coughing sound, a thin and withered man was held by his wife and walked to Xia Yuan, he wanted to say something, but a violent cough made him speechless for a while, he was also wearing a thick sable fur indoors, and his wife was nervous at the moment to help him breathe.

"Second brother!" Xia Qian didn't recognize that this thin and out of shape sick man was Fan Jiyou for a while, and couldn't help but look at his wife, "Second sister-in-law, second brother, what's going on?" "The second brother has always been strong and strong, and he is good at archery, why haven't you seen him for a few years, but he has lost weight like this!

The second lady of Shi gave Fan Jiyou a sigh of relief to Fan Jiyou, and said with a sad sigh, "The illness has been like a mountain since three years ago, it is getting worse and worse every year, and it is useless to see no number of doctors, it should not have come out on such a cold day, but he heard that you are back, and he insisted on coming." ”