On the sixteenth day of the first month of the first year of Nanchu Tongtai, Pei Yun, the commander of the Dayong Forbidden Army, strayed into the cold garden, Zhe was happy with his boldness, stayed to drink, and talked secretly for a long time.

History of Chu in the Southern Dynasties: The Biography of Jiang Suiyun

I turned my head to look, but it was a young man in gray, with an extraordinary appearance and a calm face, who was stopped by two guards, and there was a confused look in his eyes, as if he did not understand why there were such strict guards in this remote place. The two guards were unsheathed with their swords, and the situation was tense, and although the two guards didn't look at him, he wasn't quite a real assassin, so he didn't resist. When I looked over, he was saying in a deep voice: "Two brothers, Pei Yun, the commander of the Lower Forbidden Army, went to the palace for a banquet this time, just because he didn't like to make noise, so he walked around, not intentionally trespassing, please forgive me for not knowing that this is a forbidden place." ‘

The two guards looked at each other, they were all suspicious, if this person was popular, he really looked like a general, but he saw that he was exuding a breath from top to bottom, not only very strong, but also with a master's demeanor, if this person really has bad intentions, then what kind of face do you have to go back to His Royal Highness?

I have already recognized Pei Yun, I can't imagine that King Yong is really powerful in attracting people, Pei Yun is the commander of the northern camp of the forbidden army, but he is a four-rank general, although the duty of Gongwei Jingyun is important, but he is not qualified to participate in the feast of Yongwang's Mansion, at most, he is allowed to give a congratulatory gift, I am afraid that he is not even qualified to enter the banquet, and now he has appeared in the palace, I am afraid that His Royal Highness Yongwang specially made a post. Thinking of this, I smiled slightly, let me help His Highness, rather than let him go to the banquet in the side hall, even King Yong can't see it, it is better to leave him here. Thinking of this, I said loudly: "Don't be rude, this is General Pei Yunpei, and the subordinate official is Sima Jiangzhe of the Tiance Marshal Mansion." ‘

When the two guards saw me speak, they saluted and retreated, and Pei Yun came over and saluted and said, "Thank you, Lord Jiang, for relieving the siege of the last general." He looked at me calmly and coldly, this is a novelty, since I entered Yong, all the officials who see me, the eyes are either curious or assessment, or there is contempt, but this person is regarded by me as an ordinary person, which inevitably makes me more curious about him, so I smiled and said: "The general must not like the noise in front, so go to the back, and the same is true for the lower officials, so they live in the cold garden, and the meeting is also fate, how about the general to sit in the garden?" ‘

Pei Yun said with some hesitation: "Your Highness's banquet is about to start, I'm afraid that it will be inconvenient for the last general to stay here." ‘

I smiled faintly and said, "It's not rude for the general not to participate, and the seats outside are not interesting, so let's do it, if the general is willing, Suiyun is about to eat, please ask the general to stay here for a drink, Your Highness is there, and Suiyun will take care of it." ‘

Pei Yun's heart moved, although receiving the invitation from His Royal Highness King Yongwang is an honor, but it is very uncomfortable to be among those officials, not to mention that he can only go to the banquet in the outer hall anyway, it is really meaningless, if it is not for King Yong's post, he only needs to send a congratulatory gift, this person in front of him is much more hearty than those officials, his residence is so heavily guarded, I am afraid that King Yongwang will be very important to him, so he will not be rude to King Yong when invited, in comparison, it is a good idea to stay in the cold garden.

I saw Pei Yun's expression and knew that he had made a promise, so I said loudly: "Go to someone, report to His Highness, and say General Pei I stayed." ‘

A guard bowed down. I stepped forward and took Pei Yun's arm and said, 'General Pei, please come in, Zhe deeply admires the general's martial arts?' ‘

Pei Yun was a little shy and was pulled to the flower hall by me, at this time it was almost noon, two servants sent wine and food, and the accustomed ones asked them to retreat, I picked up the chopsticks and pointed to the dining table and said: "General Pei, Zhe is from the south, so His Royal Highness specially found a cook from Nanchu to cook, please try it, see if Xi is not used to it." ‘

Pei Yun looked at the small dishes on the table, which were full of light side dishes with full color and flavor, and he was full of praise after only a few bites, although he was a meatless person, but these dishes were all famous dishes of Southern Chu, he still ate very happily, I saw that he liked it, and poured him another glass of wine and said: "This is my Nanchu famous wine peach blossom dew, which is made with the best honey peach in Southern Chu every autumn, originally I didn't expect to be able to drink this wine here, this is still brought by an old man of mine from Nanchu, and it was only sent in yesterday." ‘

Pei Yun took a sip, only felt like drinking nectar, and the wine was mellow, but his surname was strong, and he didn't like this kind of soft wine, so he couldn't help frowning, I saw it in my eyes, and chuckled: "It seems that General Pei doesn't like this wine?" I heard that there is a kind of burning knife in Dayong Border Pass, which is extremely spicy and loved by the general. Pei Yun suddenly raised his eyebrows and said, "My lord, do you have a burning knife here?" This wine is rare in Chang'an. ‘

I walked to the corner of the flower hall, there was a boxwood cabinet, I took out a small wine jar from the lower level, although this small wine jar is not big, but at least it contains ten catties of wine, although it is not easy for me to take it, Pei Yun hurriedly came over to take the wine jar, mentioned the table, he couldn't help but glance at the cabinet, which was full of small wine jars, food boxes and other things.

Opening the mud seal, Pei Yun immediately smelled the fiery wine aroma that he will never forget, he took a deep breath, and then eagerly poured the wine into a large wine bowl I handed over, and then took a big sip very seriously, the familiar prickly throat pungency made him seem to have returned to the border, he sat weakly on the chair, raised the wine bowl again, the wine went down his throat, but there were almost tears in his eyes, remembering the bloody battle at the border gate, the robe was deep, how happy and free, now in the capital, although he is prosperous and rich, but he is no one in his heart. I wanted to go back to the border again, but thinking of his father's old figure, Pei Yun closed his eyes tightly and endured the bitterness and pain in his heart.

I didn't expect Pei Yun to be so excited, but soon I understood his intentions, it seems that the biggest wish of this forbidden army commander is to return to the battlefield, but unfortunately, I can't do anything about this, no one can let him abandon his father who lost his beloved son, even himself, isn't it also so difficult? But seeing him in such pain, I suddenly thought of something, if he has an heir, then it shouldn't be difficult to return to the battlefield, so I asked: 'General Pei Guigeng this year?' ‘

After all, Pei Yun was a famous disciple, so he quickly calmed down, raised his head and said, "Master Lao asked, the last general is twenty-three years old this year. ‘

I asked again, 'Is General Pei married?' ‘

Pei Yun shook his head abruptly and said, "My father has booked a family business for me, but I have always been reluctant, so I have not married. ‘

I asked suspiciously: 'Why is this, Ling Zun must be looking forward to Sun Xinxin, since the general is filial to his parents, he should marry early?' ‘

Pei Yun glanced at me, although he felt a little shallow and profound, but somehow, he had an inexplicable good impression of the young man in front of him, and it was not ruled out that it was because of the burning knife in the altar, but he still felt very relaxed, and those things were stuffy in his heart for a long time, and he also wanted to find someone to talk to, so he said: "My lord doesn't know, the martial arts I practice are not suitable for marrying a wife before Xiaocheng, but at the beginning of this year, the family teacher said that I can get married, but this is not the main reason, The main thing is that my fiancée has a special status, and the teacher is very dissatisfied. ‘

My heart moved, and I asked, 'May I ask whose daughter is the general's fiancée?' ‘

Pei Yun smiled bitterly: "She is the daughter of Xue Ju, the waiter of the Ministry of Works, the original two families are a good family, I married her fingertips, childhood sweethearts, and are like-minded, but I went to Songshan at the age of nine to learn martial arts, and when I went down the mountain at the age of sixteen, I learned that she actually worshiped Fengyi Gate, after the master learned about it, he personally called me back to the mountain, and the first Cihai master of the Discipline Institute said to me personally, if I marry her, although Shaolin is inconvenient to stop, but I can't peep the Shaolin magic from now on, he wants me to think about it, so I still don't want to complete the marriage, several times want to withdraw from the marriage, I didn't agree there, and my father-in-law said that my daughter was not immoral, and if I ruined my marriage for no reason, I must go to the emperor to judge it. My father has been urging me a lot lately, if I hadn't fought to the death, I am afraid that I would have been forced to get married. ‘

I secretly thought, it seems that Shaolin is really very deep with Fengyimen, His Royal Highness's information is not wrong, and Pei Yun said it so easily, it seems that Shaolin doesn't mind turning against Fengyimen. But I asked verbally: 'This official doesn't understand, this marriage matter is the order of the parents, the words of the matchmaker, if the general wants to get married, it is a matter of course, why is your master forcibly obstructed, isn't this against human ethics, could it be that the general attaches so much importance to the magic in the door?' ‘

Pei Yun bowed his head and said: "Although the last general is obsessed with martial arts, but not a person who forgets his feelings, if she is just an ordinary woman, I would rather be chased back by the master martial arts than negative, but seven years ago when I first returned to Chang'an, I went to see my father-in-law, and when I saw her, she became very powerful, not as innocent as when she was a child, although now her appearance and temperament are one in ten thousand, and she has practiced a good martial arts, but I feel that she is always far away from me, although her smile is sweet, it is difficult to make me tempted, and, She always gets together with those women who seem to be identities, either going out to hunt and swimming, or indulging in indulgence in the city of Chang'an, although I am not one of those people who can't see his wife outstanding, but I still hope that she can be husband and child, and serve her parents. In fact, two years ago, when I came back from the border pass, I wanted to no longer consider the entry of martial arts, and I said that I would get married early, so that my parents could tease my grandson, but when I saw her again, my dissatisfaction was not diminished at all, she was indeed beautiful and outstanding, and she was very talented, but what I wanted was a good wife who was willing to get along with each other, and she wanted to serve my parents for me after getting married, and I also wanted to return to the battlefield and serve the country, but she couldn't do it. Every time we meet, she either talks about world affairs or the rivers and lakes, and I really don't want to marry a wife like this. ‘

I looked at Pei Yun silently, knowing that he was speaking from the bottom of his heart, for a battlefield general, what he needed was not a beautiful person in the picture, what he wanted was just a good wife who could run a family, Fengyimen probably didn't think of this, not all men like those wives who are beautiful and talented but can't be good at dealing with firewood, rice, oil and salt.

Thinking of this, I smiled faintly and said: "Actually, the general is too worried, there is no parent in the world who does not favor their children, if the general and his relatives explain the truth of marrying a wife and marrying a virtuous person, the old man will not understand, if the Yue family is unwilling, the general might as well marry a side room outside, and wait until after giving birth to a child, the parents in the hall will be angry when they see their grandchildren?" ‘

Pei Yun's heart moved, when the time came, he wanted to use the excuse of practicing martial arts to delay the completion of the marriage, but he was afraid that it would not work. I saw his expression and understood that he was already willing, but there were still difficulties, so I said: 'The general has repeatedly asked to withdraw from the marriage, but the other party is unwilling, presumably the reason for the general's withdrawal from the marriage is not sufficient, and he does not want to offend the Yue family, when the time comes, the general may as well say that he has inadvertently formed a bad relationship with other women outside, and he can't abandon it, even if the other party has a big background reason, he can't stop the general from taking a concubine, if they withdraw from the marriage in anger, it is just in line with the general's wishes, if they insist on marrying their daughter, this matter between husband and wife, Can outsiders still ask, as long as the general loves his concubine, and the two elders in the hall love his grandson, I am afraid that it will not be long before Mrs. Zun will propose 'harmony'. ‘

Pei Yun said a little unbearably: "Although this plan is good, I'm afraid it will hurt people too much." ‘

I said lightly: "Although it hurts people for a while, but presumably there are many suitors for the army's fiancée, if the general reluctantly marries a wife he doesn't like, the husband and wife will be discordant in the future, and they will not be able to be filial to their parents, and it will be inconvenient for them to raise their children, this is against human ethics, if Miss Xue is a virtuous and virtuous woman, the lower official said this, it is a bad marriage, and the sin is unforgivable, but presumably Miss Xue-'

I didn't say any more, but looking at Pei Yun's face for a while red and white, I guess I was right, there are a few disciples of Fengyi Sect who don't like to show their heads, and besides, Dayong's atmosphere is open, even the women of civilian families will not go out of the door, let alone those wealthy women from noble backgrounds.

After another moment, Pei Yun had already calmed down, and thanked me with a slightly red face, and I smiled and said, "Today, the general's mind is completely gone, so it is better to drink a few more cups." Pei Yun raised his glass to salute, and I poured a cup of peach blossom dew, I can't afford to burn the knife.

The heart-to-heart just now made the two of us start to get closer, so the words gradually became less restrained, this Pei Yun talked about the military with relish, he was a brave general under the command of the King of Qi, so he said a lot of things related to the King of Qi, although the King of Qi is not a famous general, but he is brave and fearless, and he is willing to listen to the opinions of the staff, so he is also admired by the soldiers in the army, Pei Yun is also very respectful when he talks about him, it seems that the King of Qi cannot be despised Ah, in the past, he failed to attack Xiangyang twice, it was really because of the strict garrison of Xiangyang, And his dispatch of troops does not have an overall strategic goal, I have heard King Yong say, that time the army was promoted by His Royal Highness the Prince, I think because of those things to despise the King of Qi, really a little wronged him, as long as the King of Qi sent a few good staff, the King of Qi can be alone, guarding one side.

When we were talking very speculatively, I heard the music of the banquet coming from the front, although I could still hear it vaguely from the room, and I knew that the banquet had already been held at the Yongwang place, so I smiled and said, "Today, I will prevent you from participating in the feast of His Highness, but you will not suffer a loss, and you must be very satisfied with my wine here." ‘

Pei Yun said with a smile: "Thank you Lord Jiang for burning the knife, if it wasn't too abrupt, I would still like to take away a jar of wine." ‘

I was just about to answer, suddenly a low moan came from my ears, my heart sank, I listened carefully, and there was a rapid breathing, accompanied by the sound of broken bones, oh my God, someone was sniping the guards guarding the cold garden, I forced myself to calm down, I knew the approximate location of the guards around, listening to the position of the two killed guards should be very close, the other guards were a hundred steps away, such a small voice I can't hear. Glanced at Pei Yun, he didn't notice this, and then I heard the sound of someone pushing open the garden gate, this sound I think Pei Yun noticed, but he just stared slightly, I looked at his expression, there was nothing abnormal, it seemed that he thought it was the servant of the cold garden. I put down the wine glass, how could anyone kill the guards of the Cold Garden, I judged that the guards in other directions were probably killed, otherwise no one would have noticed that someone had entered the Cold Garden without permission. Look at the time, it was the time when the feast was in full swing in front, and most of the guards were in front of the defense, so he broke in so easily. What should I do, I have no power to restrain the chicken, see if Pei Yun is reliable, after all, he was once a subordinate of King Qi.

Pei Yun looked at Jiang Zhe strangely, why did he suddenly fall silent, and his expression was a little strange, he couldn't help but gather his strength just in case, but at this moment, there was a slight footstep in his ears, it was the sound of stepping on the snow in the garden, Pei Yun's heart was cold, he could hear it, the light skills of the person who came were extremely clever, judging from this voice, I am afraid that there will only be a small pit left on the snow, is it the master of Yongwangfu, Pei Yun thought so, but somehow he felt that it was not, because the kind of person who was cautious did not look like a person in Yongwangfu, He looked at his body, he didn't have a weapon, although he was good at punching and kicking, but it was still good to have a weapon, he immediately whispered to Jiang Zhe: "Lord Jiang, someone is coming outside, it doesn't seem to be from the palace, do you have weapons here?" ‘

I glanced at Pei Yun, it seems that he can be trusted, my surname will depend on him for the time being, I am afraid that it is ill-intentioned to win people, but there is nothing around me that can alarm the guards in front, those killed guards have copper whistles on them, but I can't get it at all, I don't know if Pei Yun can block the people outside, if no one arrives in time, I'm afraid my surname will be over.

I didn't hesitate, I took out a dagger from that cabinet, this is the only weapon in this room, although the hairpin on my head is extremely sharp, but I don't expect Pei Yun to use it.

Pei Yun frowned, shoved the dagger into me and said, "You keep it for self-defense." I smiled wryly at this delicate dagger, which was originally a knife used to cut meat, and if it was used by a master, it might be able to chase souls and kill people, but what use was it on me? But I still accepted it, since Pei Yun is a powerful fist and foot kung fu, he can't use it if he gives it to him. At this time, someone outside the door said softly: "Mr. Jiang, Your Highness knows that Mr. is unwilling to go to the front for the banquet, so the special subordinate has sent imperial wine. ‘

Pei Yun's expression was relieved, and he glanced at me embarrassedly, as if he felt that he was too sensitive, but I grabbed him and shook his head, it can't be King Yong's person, His Royal Highness knows my habits, and he will never send a stranger to deliver wine, if he sends Xiao Shunzi back, it is normal, but it is impossible to be a stranger.

I said lightly, 'Who is outside the door, please come in and speak.' ‘

The door opened quietly, and walked into a middle-aged man wearing a guard's costume, with a mediocre appearance, which made people forget it at a glance, I knew at a glance that he was not from Yongwangfu, and I smelled that he had two smells on his body, one was the smell of kitchen fumes, and the other was a faint smell of blood, looking at him, I asked coldly: 'You are the chef of Nanchu who came recently?' ‘

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, Pei Yun also looked at me strangely, I ignored their suspicions, and asked coldly: "Why did you come to kill me?" Who instructed you to come? ‘

Pei Yun immediately stared at the middle-aged man tightly, his eyes full of vigilance.

The middle-aged man's expression suddenly changed from peaceful to hideous and cold, and in an instant, the mediocre guard disappeared, and a cold-blooded killer appeared in front of us. Pei Yun stepped forward and stood in front of me.

The middle-aged man suddenly laughed, and he asked, 'How could Jiang Zhuangyuan know that I was a killer?' ‘

My expression became bleak, and I said lightly: "I know you, you are a poisonous and evil heart, the number one killer in the Southern Chu army, who used to obey the orders of Prince Yu De Zhao Jue, but now I am afraid that you have obeyed Rong Yuan's orders, right?" ‘

The middle-aged man's expression became serious, and he said coldly: "No wonder the prince left his last order, if Jiang Zhe surrenders to the enemy, he will definitely try his best to kill him." ‘

Hearing this, I couldn't hold back any longer, a mouthful of blood gushed out from the corner of my mouth, I slowly sat down and closed my eyes.

;