That night, they spent the night in a country inn near the river. On the morning of the third day, I arrived in Jinan. Due to the preparation for the war, the inns in Jinan were basically closed. They searched for a long time, and only the post house of the government could live. Shen Ruoyu was afraid that Tie Xuan would be alarmed, so he had to find a family with Ye Laixiang to stay under a pseudonym, pretending to be a husband and wife, fleeing from Beiping and coming here, stopping for a few days, and going to Chengdu.

He took the night incense to visit Qianfo Mountain, Daming Lake, 72 famous springs, Nanfeng Temple, Shuyu Temple, Qin Qiong Temple, and Jiaxuan Temple. Jinan in summer is verdant and lush, the clear spring is vigorous, beautiful and pleasant. The first time Ye Lingxiang left Beiping, she was not like Nangong Qiu back then, she had to express her amazement and praise for everything, and she had to chant poems and quote scriptures wherever she went. She didn't read as much as Nangong Qiu, at the moment she just listened silently, watched quietly, and took everything she saw and heard in her heart, Shen Ruoxiao explained the historical origin of each place for her, while observing the changes in her expression at all times, to decide how long to stay in each place.

She likes Daming Lake the most, likes to row on the lake, walk through the lotus leaves, or just skim the oars, let the boat cross the lake, and then quietly look at everything around, or row on the island in the middle of the lake, sit on the edge of the Lixia Pavilion, and watch the soft weeping willows gently flutter in the wind by the water. Although she only played in Daming Lake for half a day, it was enough for Shen Ruoyu to deeply remember the light and shadow reflected in her eyes by the rippling lake.

They stayed in Jinan for a total of five days, and on the sixth day they were ready to leave for Dongchang. On the last day, when Shen Ruoyu went out, he didn't tell Ye Lingxiang where he was going. When she saw the green smoke waves and the lotus leaves in the sky from afar, she couldn't help but smile and said:

"It seems that Daming Lake is your favorite place."

Shen Ruoyu said with a smile: "My favorite place is still the city wall of Jinan - to be exact, under the central gate in the north. Two years ago, when I was guarding Jinan, it almost became the place where King Yan and I were killed. ”

They dismounted and did not get on the boat, but they first came to the Nanfeng Temple and walked around. Walking in front of Zeng Gong's statue, Shen Ruoyu stopped for a moment, carefully looked at Zeng Gong's face, was silent for a long time, and sighed:

"Xiang'er, I can bet with the autumn breeze that in the future, on the shore of Daming Lake, there will be an Iron Gong Temple and Nanfeng Temple standing side by side, which will be passed down through the ages."

"Don't be ashamed to bet on what you've already lost."

Shen Ruoyu smiled self-deprecatingly: "I have nothing, what else should I bet on?" ”

Nightshade looked into his eyes, in the darkness, the light flickered, melancholy, calm, relieved, grateful, fascinated, hesitant, struggling, unpredictable.

She didn't speak again.

After leaving the Nanfeng Temple, the two of them rented a small boat. Ye Lai Xiang sat on the bow of the boat, Shen Ruoliao picked up the oar, and gently shook it towards the center of the lake.

"It's still early; By June, the lotus flowers and lotus flowers in the lake are blooming, which is very beautiful. 'The lotus leaves are infinitely green, and the lotus flowers are different red. 'After the flowering season, I went to pick lotus flowers, all of them were as big as the mouth of a bowl, so full that they were about to explode, heavy, hard, and could knock out a big bag on the head. Shen Ruoyu watched the lotus leaf bush unfold endlessly around him, and finally slowly moved away, describing and imagining at the same time. Two years ago, I saw lotus flowers all over the lake. Later, King Yan dug the Daqing River and covered the city. Daming Lake became a stagnant water, and by the end of June, everything was dead and smelly everywhere. Naturally, I didn't eat the lotus pod. ”

Nightshade turned her face away, just looking at the lake, a little worried.

"There is no such big lake in Beiping. There are only two rivers and there is not much water yet. ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "Actually, the pond is bigger than Daming Lake. It's just that it's not as beautiful as Daming Lake, and the surroundings are messy and untidy. The water is also very muddy. The Taiye Pond in the palace is about the same size as Daming Lake, and the water is also beautiful, but unfortunately the surroundings are too monotonous, and the slope bank is the royal road, and the side of the royal road is the palace wall; There are some pavilions on the island in the middle of the lake, and nothing else. And it's closed in the deep palace, it's not like here, ordinary people can come to play. ”

He stopped the oar, and the boat was across the water, drifting with the current.

"We can float around here and stay as long as we want." He took out his straw hat and put it on Nightshade. Then, he opened the lunch box and asked with a smile, "Do you want to eat?" His side dishes and buns taste really good. ”

Nightshade smiled quietly, took the bun he handed over, put it in his mouth and bit it slowly, still not speaking, and continued to look at the lake.

"Xiang'er, you have something on your mind." He asked softly.

Nightshade shook her head and smiled faintly.

"Maybe it's going to be a few days in a row, and I'm tired of playing."

"Xiang'er," he called softly, his eyes reproachful in his voice.

Nightshade shrugged her shoulders in submission and smiled meekly. "Well, I can't fool you. I'm a little ...... Reluctantly leaving. ”

Shen Ruoyu smiled. "Falling in love with Jinan? I feel the same way every time I come. It's okay, let's stay a few more days. As long as you're happy, it's okay to stay for a month. ”

Nightshade shook her head and sighed softly: "Forget it; There are so many places I haven't visited. When you get to the first place, you don't want to leave, what's the matter. Let's go; I also want to see Dongchang, Mount Tai, and the sea. ”

Shen Ruoyu said: "What we have is time, and we can stay in Jinan for a month." ”

Ye Laixiang said: "On the first day on the Thousand Buddha Mountain, someone already recognized you. Do you really want to stay for a month? ”

Shen Ruoyu was stunned for a moment and did not answer.

Neither of them noticed that a light boat had cut through the lake and flew towards them, and then they came to the front. A person on the light boat was dressed as an official and asked in a loud voice:

"The visitor is Lord Dongchang?"

Shen Ruoyu subconsciously turned his head. As soon as the man saw him, he immediately recognized him, put down the oar, and hurriedly saluted:

"Sima Xiangcheng greeted Hou Ye in the Lixia Pavilion, and the special messenger came to invite Hou Ye to go and speak, and invited Hou Ye and his wife to get on the boat."

Shen Ruoxiao was slightly stunned, then understood, sighed secretly, turned around, and stretched out his hand to Ye Laixiang.

Nightshade understood everything, didn't speak, grabbed Shen Ruoliao's hand, and boarded the official ship that came to greet her.

The boat soon rocked to the island in the middle of the lake. Shen Ruoyu took the night incense ashore and followed the tolerance to the Lixia Pavilion. In front of the stele of the Du Gong Department, Tie Xuan was standing with his back to them, bowing his head to study the inscription on the stele.

"Lord Yu: Marquis Shen and Mrs. Shen have arrived."

Tie Xuan turned around and waved his hand, "You go down first." ”

That tolerance leaves. Tie Xuan walked up to Shen Ruoyu, stretched out his hand, grabbed his arms, and looked at him carefully.

"It's really you; Are you the one who escaped death, or the ghost who wanders the rivers and lakes? ”

Shen Ruoyu shook his head slightly. "Brother Keystone, King Yan didn't kill me."

"Your herald saw it with his own eyes—"

"It's true that he cut me half to death. I was sent back to Peking and survived. ”

"Healed now?"

"It's all right."

Tie Xuan sighed, let go of his hands, and pulled him down the pavilion to sit down at the stone table under the weeping willows by the lake. Tetsu-sama looked at Nightshade.

"This is ——?"

Shen Ruoliao and Ye Laixiang glanced at each other, a little embarrassed. They are not husband and wife, but they are no longer ordinary friends. Shen Ruoyu didn't want to deceive Tie Xuan, but he couldn't find an appropriate word to define his relationship with Xiang'er for a while. That's the Iron Lord, after all.

He said softly, "Xiang'er is my lover. ”

Tie Hyun pondered for a moment and sighed softly.

"Lover-could it be the legendary Qinglou woman in Beiping City who was played with by you?"

Nightshade was taken aback; It wasn't Tie Hyun's words that surprised her. Shen Ruoyu took her hand, held it firmly in the palm of his hand, and placed it on the stone table.

"Brother Keystone, you're right. But the legend is not true. ”

Tie Hyun said, "I knew you would say that." Miss Xiang'er, Tie Mou's wording, please don't be surprised. Tie has no meaning of disrespect. It's just that, if you are few, you are underestimating the people of Jinan. In the battle of Jinan, you, me, and the general worked side by side for three months, sharing weal and woe with the people of the city; Who in Jinan doesn't know you? You are incognito, pretending to be your background, how can you hide it from anyone here. The couple who fled from Peking are going to Chengdu - you. ”

Shen Ruoxiao was a little apologetic: "I can't help it; I didn't want to alarm you. ”

"What don't want to be alarmed, to put it nicely. You just don't want me to know that you're coming, you don't want me to know that you're determined to retire and hide in the rivers and lakes, and you're afraid that I will accuse you and dissuade you, so you deliberately avoid me. ”

Shen Ruoyu felt the warmth and strength of the nightshade in his hand.

"I didn't make it," he said. I am a defeated general; Today's situation is so far, it is all a crime. ”

Tie Xuan said: "Therefore, you choose to escape from responsibility and righteousness, rather than save the decadent and make up for the dead." ”

Shen Ruoyu had nothing to say. After all, he didn't dare to tell Tie Xuan that from the beginning, he was actually not loyal to the Son of Heaven and was never on the side of the imperial court.

Tie Xuan said earnestly: "Ruo Xiao, you are still so young, why did you have the idea of retiring to the mountains and forests so early and ending up in the rivers and lakes?" Even if you really become a Yishi, 'the boat will pass away, and the rivers and seas will send the rest of your life', can you feel at ease at the same time? The Yan army has crossed the Huai River and conquered Xuyi, and Gaoyou and Yangzhou are in danger. Don't you feel anxious? You have to watch the Yan army break through the Beijing Division, the first emperor's decades of hard work, and the bitter fruits of the last four years of hard work will be destroyed in one fell swoop, and even the life of the Son of Heaven will be lost; How can you truly be at ease? With your talents, your prestige in the army, you are now back on the battlefield, and you will certainly be able to turn the tide, turn the tide, and save the society from danger, and the edifice will fall. Your responsibilities are far from being fulfilled, so how can you quit here? ”

Shen Ruoyu said calmly: "Brother Dingshi, I am already the one who died under the sword of King Yan; If I lose the battle, I should admit defeat frankly. I don't have the heart to bother with the government anymore, let alone return to the battlefield. ”

"Wen Tianxiang was captured and escaped, died nine times in his life, went through hardships and dangers, and broke through countless ghost gates, and he must also return to the Southern Song Dynasty and raise troops against the Yuan Dynasty again." The courtier's heart is a magnetic needle, and he refuses to rest if he doesn't guide him'--a swan song for the ages, you won't have forgotten it, right? ”

Tie Hyun couldn't help but stand up and take a few heavy steps back and forth.

"Do you know, Yan Bowei, the magistrate of Pei County? This person is Tang Lu Gongyan Zhenqing, loyal and righteous in a line, and his son Yan Youwei swore to live and die with the city. When the Yan army broke through Pei County, his father and son killed themselves together and died with their bodies. Liao Ziqing, the chief secretary of Pei County, and Huang Qian, the canonical historian, were captured by the Yan army, and resolutely expressed that they would follow Yan Gong underground, refused to live in the world, and died generously. When the Yan army broke through Xiao County, Zheng Shu, the county magistrate, was unyielding and was killed by the Yan army; His two daughters, who had already promised to marry and were waiting to be married, heard that their father had been martyred, and they also hanged themselves together. Do you remember Gao Xianning? His teacher, Wang Xing, was a teacher for Jiyang; The Yan army reached Jiyang, and Wang Province touched the pillar and died in Minglun Hall. Gao Xianning is still in Jinan, helping me to defend the city and assisting in people's affairs. That Ji Gang, I heard that he is very ambitious around King Yan, and if King Yan gets his wish, Ji Gang Nian will recommend you for meritorious service, and he can also say a few good words for you in front of the anti-king. ”

He stopped and looked at Shen Ruoxiao.

"Ruoxiao, do you know why I'm telling you this? You were defeated and hurt by King Yan, you were disheartened, and you wanted to escape into the rivers and lakes and end up in Linquan, I am not incomprehensible. What I don't understand is that they are all officials of the imperial court, who are favored by the Son of Heaven and cannibalistic ministers, and the ministers all sacrifice their lives to go to the country without exception, and they regard death as if they were returning home. Why didn't the generals hear that a single person committed suicide? As civil servants, we people do not have the ability to lead the army to kill the enemy, and at this time, there is only one way to go. However, you generals, starting from Gu Cheng, a veteran who was captured in the Battle of Zhending, to your Dongchang Hou Zuo General, to the right general Ping'an, who was defeated not long ago, are all brave and good at fighting, using soldiers like gods, and powering the world, and can be a person who can be ten thousand people, but why do you accept your fate with peace of mind, refuse to fight again, and refuse to die in the country? Is it true that your righteousness is inferior to that of Wenchen? ”

Shen Ruoliao and Ye Laixiang glanced at each other, and they both saw the same thing in each other's eyes. are also from Beiping, and they all know that King Yan's martial arts strategy is coupled with the means of winning people's hearts, especially the army. And Shen Ruoyu is in the imperial court, and he knows more about the policy of the Son of Heaven's court to emphasize literature over military force.

However, these are secondary. The most fundamental reason is only known to Shen Ruoyu at this moment, because among these three, only he is a military general.

As a military general, he once personally killed the third brother, Zhang Yu, Tan Yuan, and endless Yan soldiers. In the past two and a half years, he has witnessed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and countless generals coming forward one after another, spilling blood on yellow sand and shrouding their bodies in horse leather. No matter how hard and ruthless he was at that time, it was murder after all. Yue Wumu said, "Wenchen doesn't love money, and Wuchen doesn't hesitate to die" - he just said that he didn't hesitate to die. It's easy to compose poetry, it's easy to be ambitious, it's easy to die—it's easy to write a poem. As a military general, it is not enough to die at any cost, but also to kill, not only to kill the enemy, but also to kill your own people. Looking at his generals, his soldiers died one after another, they were still sleeping together last night, and they had just drunk the same pot of porridge in the morning, and in a blink of an eye, there were only broken corpses everywhere, and their dirty brains were flowing, but they couldn't stop mourning, and they had to continue to insist on killing. The generals were so happy with their achievements, flaunting their might, taking pleasure in war, and fearing that the world would not be chaotic - this was a serious misunderstanding of the literati of all dynasties. On the contrary, the generals know best the cruelty and bloodiness of war, and know the practical significance of the murder weapon of the soldier country; The generals understand that life is always small and powerless, but the ministers believe that death can make life as heavy as Mount Tai. Therefore, Shen Ruoyu has been in the army for two and a half years, and he has only commanded the army for more than a year, so he forced the Yan army to take a detour, but after being captured, he chose to hide and did not think about fighting again; Ping'an is the adopted son of Taizu, brave and invincible, and has also repeatedly defeated the Yan army, and after being captured, he also admits defeat and submits to obedience; And the veteran Gu Cheng followed Emperor Gao to conquer the country, pacified the world, made great achievements, the court went out for the first time, and was defeated in the first battle of Zhending, but he was willing to surrender to King Yan, and Zuo Shizi lived in Beiping. After all, this is just a civil war, different from defending the frontier against foreign invasion; What's more, it was not the mediocre talents who coveted the throne who rebelled, but the eloquent King Yan, who valued himself and the military ministers more than the imperial court. It's no longer worth it to keep killing, so what's the benefit of the dead?

However, these cannot be put forward for debate in the face of a figure like Tie Hyun anytime and anywhere.

Tie Xuan saw that his expression did not waver in the slightest, and he already understood that there was nothing he could do. He sighed and said slowly:

"There is a small official in Dongping named Zheng Hua. His wife, Xiao Shi, is young and beautiful. When the Yan army arrived in Dongping, Zheng Hua said to his wife: 'I am righteous, and I will die. Naruo is young? Xiao Shi cried and said: "The king does not live up to the country, and the concubine dares to fail the king?" Zheng Hua said, "That's enough." Then he led the whole city to defend the city, and the city was broken and fought hard, and was finally killed by the Yan army. I heard that at the beginning of last year, when you left the capital and returned to the battlefield, you left a letter of resignation with your wife, presumably because she was still young, and you felt infinite pity in your heart, and you couldn't bear to delay her youth. Do you know that when the news of your death on the battlefield reached the capital, the Son of Heaven personally came to your home to tell you, and your wife committed suicide in front of the court when she learned of your death? ”

Shen Ruoliao was finally touched by him - shocked. Shocked, he blurted out, "What?!" ”

Tie Xuan said: "Madame wants to follow you under Jiuquan, but your servant pulled in time, did not lose his life, and still hit his face covered with blood." I didn't expect that Mrs. was the lord of Yanwang, but she could be so righteous and loyal. I didn't even think that you escaped death because of God's favor, and you should have been more enterprising to serve the country, but instead of being depressed and decadent, not only did you not want to die of the Son of Heaven, but even your beloved wife has been left behind. Those who have a wife such as Zheng Hua's Xiao family, and your Cheng'an county lord, are really a gentleman's luck; You don't want such a good wife, just go boating with your Qinglou lover to pick lotuses and enjoy Qingfu. Ruoxiao, what the hell are you thinking? ”

Nightshade felt that Shen Ruoyu's hands were as cold as water-autumn water. At this moment, she suddenly hesitated, not knowing whether she should hold on to him or let go.

She chose to hold it tightly, gently and firmly.

Shen Ruoyu was silent for a long time, sighed softly, and shook his head.

"Lord Tie, I have made up my mind; At this point, there is no change in state affairs and family affairs. If I admit that everything you say is right, but we are in different positions, and my mind does not waver. Adults say it's useless. ”

Tie Hyun saw his face and turned his back in disappointment.

"That's it, that's it; You go. People have their own aspirations, and they don't conspire with each other because they are different. Go wherever you want. Take care all the way. ”

Shen Ruoyu looked at Tie Xuan's back.

"Brother Keystone, what are you going to ......?"

Tie Xuan said: "Every general's stealing life must be compensated by the martyrdom of a civil servant." What are my options? My wife, my daughter, my family, how could they have any choice? ”

He suddenly turned his head and looked at Nightshade carefully, his lips moved, and he stopped talking, as if there was something very difficult and required great determination.

In the end, Tie Keystone didn't say anything. He looked at Nightshade's quiet eyes in contemplation and amazement, as well as the hideous scar on his face.

Then, he turned his back and turned his back back to them.

"Let's go. The farther away the better. Never come back. ”