On the mountains in the wilderness, Ziji was also always alert, he immediately noticed the expression on Xue Xian's face, and he also sank his expression, looked at Xue Xian with a bit of solemnity, and asked, "Uncle Shi, but what's there?" ”

Zigu also immediately restrained his smile, looked around vigilantly, and subconsciously protected Zizhang. The forest fell silent for a moment, and in the silence, the sound of the cold wind blowing the dead branches and swaying was more clearly audible, and the howl of wild beasts could be faintly heard in the deep forest in the distance. Zizhang stuck to Zigu, and grabbed the corners of his clothes tightly with one hand.

Xue Xian's brows were still tightly locked, he tilted his head slightly, and said, "There is a strange smell around here, it should be rust mixed with some other things." ”

"Rust?" Ziji frowned and sniffed around, but he only smelled the roast chicken in his hand. However, he knew that Uncle Shi was very sensitive to smells, and if Uncle Shi said that there was, there must be something nearby.

"Light a torch in the woods ahead, and let me see." Xue Xiandao.

Ziji nodded, picked up a long branch, lit one end in the firewood, Zigu also lit one and held it in his hand, and extinguished the fire here with ice and snow. Because of the preparation in advance, Zigu took out a new piece of parchment from his arms, wrapped the roast chicken for Zizhang, and stuffed it into his arms.

As soon as the bonfire was extinguished, the light dimmed suddenly, and only two small bits of fire flickered in the wind. Xue Xian walked in front, and Ziji and the three followed, holding torches in one hand and holding tightly on the bronze long sword they wore with the other.

As they went deeper into the forest, they also smelled the rust smell that Xue Xian had said, and it became stronger and stronger.

"This is it." Xue Xian stopped, he took the torch in Ziji's hand, and patrolled the dark woods for a while, and sure enough, a lot of crossbow arrows were deeply inserted in the trunk, and there was a layer of snow on the top of the crossbow arrows, and he used the tips of his fingers to float away the snow on it, and the touch on the iron arrow was cold, and there was a layer of floating rust on it.

Xue Xian sniffed the smell on his hands and came to a conclusion: "There are blood stains on this." He carefully illuminated the trunk with the light of the fire, and he could see the dried blood on the trunk.

"This level of dryness should not have been long ago." As he spoke, he toe under the tree to pounce on the snow, and a severed arm with white bones was exposed, and there were a few strands of red flesh on it, which looked like it had been bitten and eaten by wild beasts, and then continued to remove the floating snow, and there were several such severed limbs.

In the darkness of the trees, the rustling of dead branches, and the dim and treacherous light of torches, the scene in front of you is chilling.

"It's the iron and blood that I just smelled." Xue Xian sighed and said.

"I don't know which two families did it, this method is cruel enough." Zigu Road.

Xue Xian sighed and shook his head, "It's just a group of poor people who are being manipulated by their masters. He was disgusted by the scene in front of him, and no matter how many times he saw it, he couldn't take it in a routine and indifferent way. Between life and death, what he prefers to see is life.

Ziji pulled out a crossbow arrow from the tree, and by the light of the fire, he frowned and carefully turned the iron crossbow arrow.

For a moment, there was only the sound of the cold wind howling in the forest. Ziji looked at it for a while, then threw the crossbow arrow in his hand into the snow, making a muffled sound. The howling north wind blew the snow from the treetops as if it were snowing. At this moment, standing here, it makes people feel extraordinarily cold.

It was a big event for the Fan family to come back, and that night, he held a banquet in the mansion to wash the dust. The dinner lasted until late at night. Early in the morning, before dawn, Fan Jihui got someone from below to come and say that Mr. Xue was back.

Fan Jihui hadn't fallen asleep, but when he heard this, he immediately opened his eyes, got up from the bed, and went straight to the guest house.

At this hour, it was still dark outside. The oil lamp on the table was lit, and the flame lit up and began to burn with all its might.

In the guest house, Fan Jihui and Xue Xian sat opposite each other, Xue Xian poured a cup of hot water for Fan Jihui personally, and said with a faint smile: "I haven't seen you for many years, you and I should have a drink, but I heard that you drank a lot of wine last night, and the wine hurt your body, so I borrowed a glass of white water to express my heart." ”

"Sir, do you know what I'm here for?" Fan Jihui sat opposite, took the cup handed by Xue Xian with both hands, and asked in a deep voice.

"Naturally, you can guess." Xue Xian smiled and sighed slightly: "If it's for the sake of the game, I'm afraid it will disappoint you." "Bo is exactly Fan Jiyou's word.

"Sir!" Fan Jihui wanted to explain to Fan Jiyou, but was interrupted by Xue Xian.

Xue Xian said: "It's not that I did my best to treat him, but he was actually injured in heart and lungs, and the medicine stone was cured." I'm just a healer, but I'm not an immortal, and I don't have the ability to turn decay into spring, so I can only do what I've learned all my life to extend his life. ”

Fan Jihui had known Xue Xian before, knew his personality, and he understood that what Xue Xian said must be the truth. Therefore, my heart cooled down little by little. He sighed heavily.

Xue Xian said: "Many years ago, Brother Ling was stabbed in the chest by a long sword quenched with poison, although he was barely rescued, he also broke his heart. Those who have a damaged heart and veins are unlikely to have a long lifespan. Originally, Brother Ling's health was good, and he might be able to last a few more years, but due to improper treatment and depression, now that the poison has accumulated deeply, he can live to this day thanks to your Fan's great wealth. ”

Hearing this, Fan Jihui quickly grasped the key point in Xue Xian's words, raised his eyes, and asked, "Sir, are you saying that the treatment is improper?" ”

"Every flavor of the medicine in this recipe has its own amount. Some drugs are toxic if they are more than that, and ineffective if they are less. That's all I say, and you're at your own discretion. Xue Xian's voice was faint, but there was a deep meaning in these words.

Fan Jihui is not a stupid person, since Xue Xian said so, it was naturally a discovery. He knew the inside story of his second brother's injury back then, but it was not easy to talk to Xue Xian directly, so he frowned deeply and said: "Sir, I understand what you said, I will investigate carefully when I go back, but my second brother's illness is really out of the question?" ”

Fan Jihui's last sentence carried an uncontrollable tremor in it. I saw Xue Xian lowering his eyes and shaking his head, Fan Jihui suddenly felt as if his strength had been drained, they had a deep brotherly relationship, if it was true, Fan Jihui didn't dare to think about it. Under his heartache, he clenched his hands into fists and slammed them on the table, and said fiercely: "Even if that person is killed alive, he will not understand his hatred!" ”

Xue Xian only sighed, but did not speak.

After a long time, Fan Jihui straightened his face and asked, "Mr. Xue, is Prince Chu available now?" ”

Xue Xian smiled and said: "He was so sleepy, he fell asleep as soon as he went back to the yard with a pillow, and now he should be in a dream." ”

"A few days ago, I had another letter with Dr. Yin, who hoped that the prince would return to Yingdu as soon as possible, and my opinion was the same. I got the news, and recently there were spies from Wu Guo who sneaked into the royal capital, and I don't know if I got any news. By my point, it's better to leave earlier. With our Fan as a guarantor, they don't dare to make a move. Fan Jihui said.

At dawn the next day, Fuzhong was lively for another day, and the flowing water banquet would continue. Yesterday it was a gathering of clansmen, and today it is people from Beppu, the royal capital. Since the afternoon, there has been a rush of traffic outside Fan's Gate, and one carriage after another has crowded the long street outside the house.

An hour before the dinner, Fan Miaoshu was still dressing up in the house, she picked out a white jade bracelet inlaid with cloud gold silk from the makeup and put it on, turned around with satisfaction, and asked Luo Ying, "Are the things you want to bring ready?" ”

Luo Ying gave Fan Miaoshu a white hosta hairpin, and responded with a smile: "According to your orders, they are all heavy gifts." ”

Fan Miaoshu thought for a while and said, "You personally go to my small storehouse, bring the Changyuan Sword of the Yue Kingdom, and wrap it alone." ”

Luo Ying answered.

At this time, Mingyun also appeared outside the door, followed by Ah Wei. In the past, for the convenience of movement, she always liked to comb two buns of hair with a beard, today is different from the past, the hair is down, tied up at the end of the hair with white jade buttons and hairpins, a deep apricot red curved robe, embroidered with auspicious auspicious clouds and hundred bats. Luo Ying saw Mingyun who was busy smiling, her eyes lit up, and she praised: "The little master really looks good in this, go in quickly, Madame is inside." She was in a hurry to go to the storeroom, so she didn't say any more, and walked away with a brisk step.

Mingyun turned his head and looked at Luo Ying's back as he gradually moved away, and looked at it for a long time, but he didn't know what he was thinking. The winter wind blew the broken hair on her forehead, and in the early morning sun, the small broken hair on both sides of her forehead seemed to be dyed golden. Her expression was cold, and the subtle expressions at the corners of her eyebrows and eyes proved that she was not so happy at the moment.

"Master." Ah Wei shouted in a low voice.

Mingyun retracted his gaze and turned his head sideways to Ah Wei, "You stay outside the door." ”

Ah Wei nodded.

Entering the house, Fan Miaoshu was still dressed up in front of the dressing table. Her makeup is already very beautiful, with pink and white and black lips and bright teeth, but she still looks at the bronze mirror, and she doesn't seem to be very satisfied, always afraid that something is not perfect. But it's really beautiful enough, the snow-blue wide-sleeved straight skirt is made of colorful cloud brocade, and the embroidered color group pattern on the clothes is to gather more than a dozen embroidery girls to carefully embroider for half a month, and a whole set of heavy red gold and ruby hair ornaments on the head, the whole person is more and more bright and square, dazzling.

"I've seen my mother." Mingyun bowed in a regular manner.

Fan Miaoshu turned her head, glanced at her daughter, and nodded with satisfaction: "Sure enough, it's my daughter, it's so beautiful, come here." She beckoned to Mingyun.

Mingyun obediently knelt beside Fan Miaoshu, but she was obviously not as happy and envious as before, and the expression on her face was only faint.

Fan Miaoshu pressed the knuckle of her index finger against her chin, looked at her daughter, and took out a piece of red agate flower from the makeup and put it on her forehead. Fan Miaoshu took a closer look, nodded, closed the makeup with her index finger, and said to Mingyun: "There will be a lot of people coming to the banquet today, you are already a big girl, you should dress up beautifully." ”

Hearing this, Mingyun couldn't help frowning slightly.