In the early spring of February, the breeze was still cold, Liu Xiu was stationed in Ma Hejin, looking at the grandmother Tang who was waving his hand vigorously on the other side of the river, and suddenly his nose was a little sour. The mother thought that he went to Beijing to seek fame, so happy that she didn't sleep well for a few days, and often remembered what she wanted to bring in the middle of the night, and immediately got up to clean up for him.

But she didn't know, she went, maybe she would never come back, although the battle of Ningcheng was won, but the Xianbei people were still strong, the Han was constantly declining, Youzhou would soon become a place of war, although he was hot-headed as soon as he went to the battlefield, he dared to take any risk, and he had a tendency to go crazy when he smelled blood, but he did not have the conscious surname of cannon fodder, and he was not interested in going to the frontier to participate in the war.

If he goes to Luoyang, maybe he will go south, and maybe even go to sea, anyway, for him, there are more places to take refuge. Dad hasn't come back yet, and there is only one woman left in the house, and he wanted to delay it for a few days, but his mother urged him to leave immediately, for fear that this opportunity would never return.

If she knew that she might never see her son again, I don't know if she would be so enthusiastic.

In this world, he stayed with Ah Weng and Ah Mu for three or four months, since he went to Peach Valley to study, they rarely saw each other, but these two people were his closest people in this world, he felt the warmth of family affection from them, if it weren't for the chaos in the world, Youzhou was not peaceful, he might really want to stay here for a while longer.

Liu Xiu wanted to take them with him, but when his mother heard this, she shook her head again and again, blocking all Liu Xiu's later words. She said that in addition to being willing to live in Luoyang with her son for a few days to open her eyes, she didn't want to go anywhere else, although Youzhou is a border county, but she is used to it, and she doesn't want to go to a place where she is not familiar with life for the rest of her life.

Going to Luoyang? Thinking that Dong Zhuo burned Luoyang to the ground, Liu Xiu felt that it would be better to let his mother, who didn't want to leave home, stay in Zhuo County.

Liu Xiu left a letter to his father Liu Yuanqi, briefly explaining his "guess", hoping that he would explain his mother and prepare to move. Although it is not easy for the people of the Han Dynasty to migrate, there are so many displaced people now, and their family is not bad, not to mention that there is no property at home, even if there is a limited loss. He's tried his best to make it clear, but I don't know if he'll understand.

Liu Xiu lay on the river and kowtowed three times to the Tang family on the other side of the river, Tang was stunned for a moment, and began to wipe his eyes with his hands, probably reluctant to let her son cry, but she couldn't guess Liu Xiu's true intention of kowtowing to her three heads anyway.

"Deran, there is no need to be sad, when you return to your hometown, it is the best reward for your parents." Lu Min persuaded softly.

"Yes, eldest brother, don't worry, we will go here for half a year at most, and we will be able to come back with a half-official position, and my aunt will not know how to be happy when the time comes." Liu Bei said loudly that his mother was also on the other side of the river, but he couldn't see a little sadness of parting on his face, only an infinite yearning for a better future.

Zhang Fei also persuaded a few words, and Liu Xiu got up and turned over on the horse. Lu Min nodded with satisfaction and ordered to set off. Not far away, Wang Chu saw all this from the curtain of the car provoked by Mao Yan, and sighed faintly.

Mao Yan lowered the curtain and glanced at her: "Such a good man......"

"Sister!" Wang Chu interrupted her in disgust, leaning back against the carriage and closing his eyes to recuperate. Mao Yan smiled and squeezed to sit beside her: "It's not that my sister is talkative, I still don't understand your thoughts?" obviously likes it, but refuses to embarrass the family. But have you thought about it, if you really enter the palace, your royal family will be able to prosper? Think about how many relatives have come out in the past 100 years, yes, they are soaring and prosperous, and the power is leaning towards the government and the opposition, but where are they now? ”

Wang Chu was silent.

"Don't talk about it far away, the Dou family's affairs are close at hand, don't you think your idea is too risky?"

Wang Chu slowly opened his eyes: "Sister, I understand what you said, but ...... Is it up to me to decide? ”

"It's up to you to decide, but have you tried?" Mao Yan said angrily, she and Wang Chu huddled together and whispered, trying her best to persuade Wang Chu to change her mind. Wang Chu just lowered his head, his fingers wrapped around a strand of hair on his cheeks, and was silent.

Mao Yan sighed and said no more.

There was a melodious flute sound outside the car, Mao Yan glanced out from the crack in the curtain of the car, and couldn't help laughing: "Look, those little shafts are playing around again." ”

The corners of Wang Chu's mouth twitched, and finally a smile appeared. Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Mao Zong went out for the first time, and they went to Beijing to seek officials, they were all a little excited, and when they had nothing to do, they laughed with the maid Lan Lan beside Liu Xiu, competing to make her happy, either singing songs or telling jokes, or discussing the war in Ningcheng. Zhang Fei has experienced the battlefield firsthand, of course, the most arrogant, Mao Zong and Liu Bei are a little miserable, one was captured by life, the other was almost killed, and finally survived by pretending to be dead, of course, they were looked down upon by Zhang Fei, they were annoyed and angry, so they united to fight with Zhang Fei, and several people rarely had a quiet time.

"What's the matter with the handmaid?" Wang Chu looked at Lan Lan, who was silent with a smile, and frowned.

"It seems to be a person from Taiping Dao, Zhang Envoy may want to let De Ran enter Taiping Dao, but De Ran just can't look down on it, saying that their Taoist arts are all deceptive witchcraft, so Zhang Envoy asked this woman to follow De Ran and tutor him to practice Taoism." Mao Yan explained, paused for a moment, and explained: "De Ran was very polite to her, and never regarded her as a maidservant, not even a light word. ”

"The people in this gate are really strange." Wang Chu muttered.

"Don't underestimate her." Mao Yan reminded: "She can kill Huai Zong in Liangqu Mountain, and she also has merit." ”

Wang Chu didn't say anything, and lowered the curtain sullenly. She had already heard Mao Yan say several times that in the battle of Liangqu Mountain, Liu Xiu and the three Taiping Daoists took advantage of the twilight to cross the dense forest from the hillside, flew off the cliff and attacked Huai Zong, and succeeded in one blow, thus laying the battle situation, and this Lan Lan was one of them.

"Big brother, you can have one too." Liu Bei shouted loudly.

"Me?" Liu Xiu shook his head again and again: "I can't sing, I'll listen to you sing." ”

"Don't be embarrassed, there are no outsiders here, sing one." Mao Zongqi exclaimed: "When I left Yangle that day, Brother Bo Jue still played a song. If you don't believe me, ask Sister Achu, sister, did you say? ”

Wang Chu smiled, when she left Yangle, Gongsun Zhan peeked at her several times, and finally sang a song, saying that it was for Mao Zong's send-off, but Wang Chu knew that the farewell song was not so much sung to Mao Zong, but rather rapped for her. Gongsun Chan is very beautiful, very arrogant, and indeed a personal masterpiece, but unfortunately for her, no matter how good it is, it is useless, she is destined to enter the palace. But now she suddenly wanted to listen to Liu Xiu sing a song, so she responded: "Yes." ”

"How?" Mao Zong stretched out his hand from the car to pull Liu Xiu's sleeve, and said reluctantly: "Sing one, sing one, why do we all sing, but you don't sing?" ”

They had three cars on this trip, Mao Yan and Wang Chu shared one, Lu Min took one, and one was originally prepared for Liu Xiu and Mao Zong, but they were all willing to ride horses and were unwilling to take a car. Originally, Mao Zong was also going to ride a horse, but Gongsun Zan gave him a famous black horse, he couldn't put it down, and he couldn't wait to sleep with the horse every day. But Mao Yan said that they went to the capital to seek officials, and riding a horse would make people look down on them, and Mao Zong was not allowed to ride a horse, forcing him to ride a car with Lu Min. Mao Zong was very unhappy about this, but he was helpless, and he was not at ease sitting in the car, and he did not have any elegant demeanor.

Zhang Fei and Liu Bei also coaxed: "Sing one, sing one!" ”

Mao Yan glanced at Wang Chu with an expectant look on her face, and suddenly lifted the curtain and said with a smile: "Deran, don't twist and pinch, we people in northern Xinjiang should be more cheerful." ”

Liu Xiu looked over and happened to see half of Wang Chu's face behind the curtain, Wang Chu shrank back and hid behind Mao Yan. Liu Xiu smiled and gently pushed Mao Zong's hand away, "I really don't know how to sing, but I know a good tune, I'll hum it to you, how about it?" ”

"Okay, okay, as long as you make a sound." Liu Bei applauded and laughed. When Lu Min saw it, he shook his head helplessly, he wanted to stop them, but Mao Yan spoke, and he didn't want to stop him in person, fortunately, the surname of Youyan is Ge Haoshuang, whether it is a farewell, a banquet, or a banquet, there is nothing to be embarrassed about singing loudly.

Liu Xiu pondered his emotions for a moment and hummed softly. Wang Chu listened attentively, and as soon as he heard two sentences, he frowned lightly and sighed: "Good song!" Why haven't I heard of it? ”

"You haven't heard much of it." Mao Yan teased her, listened to it for a while, and frowned: "Strange, I haven't heard this song either." After thinking about it, he shook his head and said, "This song is good, but ...... It's so bleak. ”

Liu Bei and Mao Zong outside had already shouted: "Change one, change one, what kind of song is this, people want to cry when they hear it." ”

Liu Xiu smiled embarrassedly, "I said I won't, you have to make me ugly, forget it, don't blow it, save you from crying one by one, it's not good-looking." ”

"Twilight! Boring! Mao Zong retracted the car in disappointment and shouted to Liu Bei: "Xuande, you have followed them for so long, have you heard any interesting nonsense?" Sing one to listen. ”

Liu Bei's face flushed, and he quickly returned to normal, and he didn't shirk, he opened his voice and sang loudly. Mao Zong and Zhang Fei responded loudly, beating the beat, shouting one by one, attracting pedestrians, but they were even happier, working harder and harder, turning the boring itinerary into a lively song competition, and there was almost no wine glass in their hands.

Wang Chu leaned against the wall of the car and blinked: "Sister, haven't you heard that song either?" ”

Mao Yan glanced at her, shook her head with a wicked smile, stuck her head out of the car, beckoned to Liu Xiu, who was howling with Zhang Fei and them, called him to the car, and squeezed her eyes at him: "Hum your song just now, I want to listen to it." ”

Liu Xiu understood, so he hummed again from the beginning. Wang Chu listened very attentively, his fingers danced gently with the rhythm, until Liu Xiu finished humming, and he had not recovered from the artistic conception.

"What's this tune?" Mao Yan realized her curiosity from Wang Chu's flashing eyes, and took the initiative to ask.

Liu Xiu scratched his head: "I don't know, I occasionally hear people talk about it, it seems to be a story." ”

"Or is it a story?" Mao Yan leaned on the window of the car and said curiously: "Come and listen." ”

"It's a sad story, are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Listen, listen." Mao Yan waved her hand impatiently.

Liu Xiu coughed and began to tell them a story, saying that it was a woman who disguised herself as a man to study, met a man, and the two became good friends, and then the man found out the woman's identity and fell in love, but the woman's family had to force her to marry a nobleman, and after the man was disappointed, he committed suicide, and on the day the woman got married, she passed by the man's grave and learned that her lover committed suicide for love, and she couldn't help crying bitterly in the grave, and the grave suddenly cracked, and the woman jumped in, and the two turned into butterflies, and since then they have lived and flew.

Before he finished speaking, Mao Yan's eyes were moist, her nose was a little muttering, and while wiping her tears, she said to Liu Xiu reproachfully: "You did it on purpose, right?" Telling a story has a meaning, which makes people's hearts sour and uncomfortable. ”

Liu Xiu's eyes glared: "I said it was a little sad, you just don't believe it, you have to listen, now I feel ashamed, and blame me." After speaking, he shrugged his shoulders, lightly urged the big red horse, and rushed over to Liu Bei and them.

"This little shaft has bad intentions, it must be on purpose." Mao Yan said angrily, "Achu, don't fall for him. ”

Wang Chu's eyes were also red, but she disagreed with Mao Yan's opinion: "Sister, he doesn't understand music theory, right?" ”

Mao Yan thought for a while, "I haven't heard of this." ”

"A person who doesn't understand music theory may be able to make up a good story, but it is impossible to make up such a mournful tune." Wang Chu sniffed and gently wiped the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief: "He didn't deceive people, this song should be worthy of this story." ”

Mao Yan is decisive and arrogant, but she doesn't understand music, and when she hears Wang Chu say this, she naturally won't have any doubts. Although she felt that it was inappropriate for Liu Xiu to use this obvious example of the analogy, she also felt that Liu Xiu didn't seem to have such a great ability to make up a song. She secretly glanced at Wang Chu, Wang Chu shrunk in the carriage, his eyes were a little scattered, humming a few lines of the tune if he didn't have it, although she only listened to it once, but she had roughly mastered the tune, and the basic charm was also able to grasp four or five points, and the sad and tactful tune made Mao Yan feel sad for a while.

They crossed Yishui, went out of Youzhou, first entered the river, and when they passed through Yan County, they visited Zhang He by the way. Not long after Zhang He returned home, although he did not accept Xia Yu's call, Xia Yu's book was sent to Yan County, and several big families in Yan County knew about the Battle of Ningcheng, and they immediately looked down on Zhang He, and Zhang He's reputation improved a lot. As soon as he heard that Lu Min and Liu Xiu were coming, Zhang He was very happy and held a banquet to entertain them, and many celebrities in the river came to congratulate them, they may not usually look down on Zhang He, but they dare not underestimate Lu Min. Lu Min is the son of a great Confucian, and he has military exploits, needless to say about his future future, it must be smooth all the way, and making friends before he is promoted is of course a thing that cannot be sought.

After two days in Zhang's house, Zhang He asked Liu Xiu to bring a letter to his brother Zhang Chao, and sent them out fifty miles, so he said goodbye.

In February, they arrived at Julu, and in the long pavilion outside Julu City, Lan Lan met two people from the Daomen who came to greet them, and after a few words, Liu Xiu learned that Zhang Ming had rushed to Julu, but Zhang Jiao, the great sage and good teacher, was not in Julu. When they broke up in Ningcheng, Zhang Ming once said that he would introduce Liu Xiu to Zhang Jiao, so that Liu Xiu could see the advanced Taoism, and Liu Xiu was also ready, but he didn't expect Zhang Jiao to be in Julu.

"Zhang Envoy is in Julu?"

"The earthquake envoy is in Julu, he still has some things to deal with, and he will probably go to Luoyang next month."

"Okay, let's meet in Luoyang." Although Liu Xiu was a little disappointed, he didn't pay much attention to it. Zhang Ming has now become his thug, and he doesn't dare to put the scores of the eight great disciples in front of him anymore, and Zhang Jiao, a great sage and good teacher, may not be able to be so powerful. He heard Zhang Ming mention that although his Dao skill level was not as good as Zhang Jiao, but after having the artifact of the Green Ox Horn, he was suddenly much closer to Zhang Jiao's realm, and he didn't dare to say anything else, among the eight disciples, he could now sit firmly in the first place.

"Okay, see you in Luoyang next month." Lan Lan bowed to Liu Xiu and hurriedly left with the two of them. She didn't say a specific reason, only said that Zhang Ming asked her to go, Liu Xiu estimated that it was something they taught, and he didn't want to ask too much as an outsider, but without Lan Lan by his side to take care of him, he was resuming his life of taking care of himself, enjoying the clothes to stretch out his hands, and the food to open his mouth, suddenly no one took care of him, and he was still a little unaccustomed.

Immediately afterwards, Wang Chu also broke up with them, she was a native of Zhao and could go home from Julu to the west, while Liu Xiu and they had to go all the way south. When they broke up, Wang Chu glanced at Liu Xiu, pursed his lips and stopped talking, but finally didn't say anything and boarded the car.

Liu Xiu was stunned and a little depressed.

"Deran, will you be that stupid Liang Shanbo?" Mao Yan asked softly.

Liu Xiu raised his eyebrows, thought for a moment, and shook his head resolutely: "No." ”

Mao Yan was a little disappointed, turned her head unhappily, and was about to ridicule Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu said again: "How stupid it is to commit suicide, people can't really turn into butterflies, and two people die in vain." ”

"And!" Mao Yan flicked her sleeves and turned around to leave. Although she felt that what Liu Xiu said was right, she was still a little disappointed: "It turns out that you are just a person who talks about it, and you really let you act, but it is very realistic." ”

Liu Xiuyi said solemnly: "Of course I am realistic. If you like someone, you have to fight for it, why commit suicide stupidly? ”

Mao Yan stopped her body suddenly, turned her body and looked Liu Xiu up and down, Liu Xiu didn't have a smile on his face, and he couldn't see that there was any joke. She hesitated: "How are you going to fight it?" ”

Liu Xiu frowned: "The question is...... What did she think? If she wants to enter the palace, then I can't force her, I can't break her dream of being a queen, you know, no matter how big an official I am, I can't be the emperor. ”

"What if she doesn't want to enter the palace herself?"

"Then there's nothing to say." Liu Xiu straightened his chest: "No matter what method I use, I will snatch her back." He took two steps closer to Mao, hunched his waist, arched his hands, and showed a flattering smile: "Sister-in-law, did she say anything to you?" ”

Mao Yan glanced at him with strange eyes, pouted and said, "She didn't say anything to me, but I know that she often hums your tune these days, and often sits up in the middle of the night and tears." Didn't you notice that her eyes were swollen? ”

Liu Xiu shook his head and said innocently: "I was afraid that she would be angry, so I didn't dare to stare at her." ”

"Shaft, dare to play in front of me?" Mao Yan was angry and funny, raised her hand and patted him: "You glanced into my car when I didn't see your dog eyes, and if something was fine?" ”

"I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed, I know that I can't hide my sister-in-law's eyes." Liu Xiu smiled honestly, arched his hand again and again, and then raised his hand again, and swore with a straight face: "The sky is above, and the gods are full of witnesses, but I didn't look at you." ”

Mao Yan was amused by him, "Don't be poor." You better hurry up and think of a way, she will go to Luoyang next month, and she will soon be elected to the palace. If you can't come up with a good way to get the best of both worlds as soon as possible, it's too late to regret it. ”

Liu Xiu blinked and nodded vigorously.

(To be continued)