Li Sinian - Prime Minister Li Cheng's only son.

I heard that there were a few new good horses in the racecourse, so he invited them to take a look, but he didn't expect to meet the lord of Pingning when choosing a horse.

"County Lord." Li Si's annual ceremony was thorough, and the whole process went smoothly.

Ping Ning glanced at the people around him and laughed in his heart. A few days ago, I was with the protégé of Zhongshuling, and today there are children of officials from the household department and the official department around me.

Not bad - two white faces, but not a loss. It is exactly the same as his father in the main hall, and it is worthy of being specially cultivated by Li Xiang.

"Li Gongzi, also come to see the horse?" Ping Ning was dressed in a light red riding suit, his long hair was meticulously tied behind his head, his hands were behind his back, and he held a horsewhip in his hand, watching the servants lead the horse from a distance, with a slight smile on the corner of his lips.

"Yes. The county lord is also interested in horse appreciation? ”

"I understand a little. When my father was alive, he followed his old man to the racecourse several times. ”

Seeing that Ping Ning didn't want to speak, Li Sinian also shut up with interest, and together with his companions, stood aside and silently waited for the horse to lead him.

Ping Ning first took a fancy to a jade lion in the night, the whole body is snow-white, without a single miscellaneous hair, which can be described as the best among horses.

Seeing that Ping Ning had chosen, he had already gone to get close to the jade lion that shone in the night, and the others began to look at other horses one after another. Although the best has been selected, there are still a few top-grade horses. For example, Li Sinian took a fancy to the jujube-colored Dawan horse at a glance, and he had just finalized it, so he asked people to take it over for a closer look.

"Wait." Ping Ning spoke up.

Li Sinian didn't expect her to stop it, so he couldn't help but say, "County Lord, is there anything wrong?" ”

Ping Ning touched the horse he had taken a fancy to before, and said as a matter of course: "I also fancy that horse, of course it's not appropriate." ”

“…”

Lord of the County, can you take your eyes off the horse before you say this? She didn't even look at it and said she wanted it, what do you mean?

"Since the county lord has taken a fancy to it, Li should offer it with both hands. Come on, bring it to the county lord. Li Sinian looked at it again, and asked someone to bring an ink-colored horse over, but who expected Ping Ning to intervene again.

"That horse looks good, bring it over to the county lord to see."

Once it can be said to be accidental, but if it is repeated again and again, it cannot be said. Li Sinian frowned, vaguely angry. "County Lord, what do you mean by that?"

From the beginning to the end, Ping Ning's eyes never took off the Jade Lion of the Night, and the horse he had chosen was completely left to dry. Li Sinian is not stupid, how can he not see that she is intentional at this time.

"If the county lord doesn't really like it, why should he win people's love?"

Ping Ning seemed to have heard some joke and said, "It's good that the county lord is happy, why bother whether you like it or not." Moreover, the lord of this county is the king, and you are the minister. As long as the lord of the county does not break the law, even if the prime minister comes, he will not be able to control it. Li Gongzi, you... Is this going to be committed? ”

"Don't dare."

When the emperor was alive, he gave the lord of Pingning everything like a princess, and now the new emperor and she are also playmates when they were children, and their father also reminded him when he was at home: stay away from the lord of Pingning.

"Really?" Ping Ning walked towards him, a light smile of unknown meaning on the corner of his mouth.

Li Sinian subconsciously stepped back, and suddenly felt that something suddenly hit his leg, and his body fell forward uncontrollably. In the eyes of others, his action was like rushing towards the county lord of Pingning, but only Li Sinian understood in his heart that things were not so simple.

Before he could get close to him, Ping Ning whipped his whip at him, alarming the guards around him to rush over as well.

"County Lord, what's going on?"

"It's fine." Ping Ning smiled at them, squatted down and looked at Li Sinian with an apologetic face, and said, "I'm sorry, Li Gongzi, the county lord is in a hurry, and he didn't take it seriously. Didn't you say you wouldn't dare? Why did he suddenly pounce, and he was so scared that the county lord missed. If the prime minister asks about it, how can it be good? ”

Li Sinian's face turned pale in pain, there must have been something hitting his leg just now that prevented him from standing firmly, he could have checked the evidence, but one of Ping Ning's two whips hit that place impartially, and the traces must have been covered by whip marks. There is no basis for his words, how can his father ask? There are so many pairs of eyes here, do you want to cure him for a crime of disrespect to the county lord?

Lord Pingning, she did it on purpose today! Li Sinian's face was hideous for a moment, and then he quickly raised his eyes and squeezed out a smile. "It was the fault of the subordinates, not standing firm, and the county lord was frightened."

"That's it..."Ping Ning nodded after understanding the situation, then got up and said magnanimously: "It's okay, the county lord doesn't care." Li Gongzi seems to be injured a lot, in the end, the county lord missed, and it is not good not to make some compensation. She looked at the horses she had snatched from Li Sinian's men, and suddenly had an idea.

"Originally, I liked the horse the most, and the rest was just for fun. Since Li Gongzi likes it, it is better to return it to you. In this way, you will not run in vain today. After saying that, she took the Yezhao jade lion and turned away.

I never thought that Li Sinian didn't bring so much money to buy horses, but the county lord "let it" him, can he still buy it? You can only bite the bullet and let people go back and withdraw the money.

When this matter reached the palace, Xiao Chulan was painting when he heard the great eunuch's relay, and he couldn't help but smile after hearing it. "He deserves it."

"Huh?" The big eunuch was puzzled, and then thought that what His Majesty said was probably the lord of Pingning.

Xiao Chulan crumpled the discarded sketch and threw it aside, and the anger in the court because of Li Xiang's flattery on both sides disappeared all of a sudden.

"How is the Lord of Pingning?" He asked, a smile in his eyes.

The chief eunuch: "I heard that Li Gongzi was whipped twice, and the county lord seems to be nothing." ”

Xiao Chulan waved his hand to retreat.

The newly promoted officials have all completed their duties a few days ago, Tao Xiuru was appointed as Jing Zhaoyin, and Sikong was originally appointed as the head of the household department.

Tao Xiuru has been haunted by Chen Ruohai's framing many years ago, and his temperament can't help but be a little more vicious. Sikong Yuan is hot-blooded, and he doesn't know the depth of the world, which is just the opposite of him. Now that the undercurrent of the Rite Dynasty is surging, it doesn't hurt for Tao Xiu to use it for people like that, as for Sikong Yuan... If you experience two or three years and don't forget your original intention, you will definitely achieve something.

These two... Let's look at the fortune.

*

Not long after, an urgent military message came from the battlefield.

Since the death of Anhou, the two sides have fought, and the Li Dynasty ushered in its first substantive victory. But the price is heavy, Cui Shuai... Killed.

When the Cui family received the news, Ping Ning happened to be there.

In the lobby, after the dead silence.

Cui Jingyu stood up tremblingly with the armrest of the chair, her throat choked, her nose suppressed indescribable sourness, her mind was blank, and the sadness visible to the naked eye in her body seemed to overflow.

She grabbed the messenger, grabbed the man's collar, tried several times before she could make a sound, grabbed him and asked, "You... Say it again... Who died? Who do you say died? Who died in battle! ”

The weak voice became hard, and finally poignant, and a line of tears welled up in his eyes.

She grabbed the man's neckline hard, her knuckles were white, her eyes were red and she wanted to eat people, and the person who reported the news trembled and stammered: "Enemy, the enemy is coming, Cui Shuai put on armor and went into battle, led people to break through the encirclement, and took the head of the enemy's general." But.. But Cui Shuai himself was also seriously injured, and he was stabbed a total of twenty-four times in front of and behind him, and finally... Killed. ”

"You talk nonsense!" Cui Jingyu roared and threw the person to the ground.

Cui Yanyu stepped forward and also grabbed her with a sad face, but unlike her, he had already prepared for all this. "Jingyu, calm down!"

"Brother! No, daddy won't! No, it won't... He's not going to die... No, it won't. ”

Ping Ning raised her eyes and asked the man to retreat, Cui Jingyu buried her in her brother's arms, and took the person out completely before crying out.

"I'll do the rest. Cousin, let's accompany Jingyu first. Ping Ning walked up to Cui Jingyu, reached out to touch her back, and sighed helplessly.

Ping Ning's slender figure gradually disappeared into the darkness at the corner of the corridor, and Cui Yanyu stared at her until she left. When his uncle left, Pingning was only fourteen years old. She was in the palace at the time, and there was no one else around.

Jingyu told him that Pingning rushed back to the Hou Mansion in the rain on the day his uncle's news came back.

With his understanding of the royal family, even if the first emperor was in a coma at the time, how could the queen mother be ignorant after two dynasties? Pingning's exit from the palace was not released by the Heavenly Family, but by herself. The news of her uncle, whom she must have anticipated, evaporated the sadness in her heart when there was no one around, and with a casual smile, she pretended to run back to the Hou Mansion in that heavy rain.

"Jingyu..."

"Brother, I know... I shouldn't have cried like this in front of Sister Ning, but I really can't do it like her. Cui Jingyu choked up and cried, buried her head in his arms, and her tears wet a small piece in front of Cui Yanyu. She said, "Just this once, if you let me finish crying, I will..."

Cui Yanyu reached out and patted her on the back. Then cry. With my brother here, cry if you want to. "Cry out his share and pick it up again.

Ping Ning kept walking forward, Cui Jingyu's cry became smaller and smaller behind him, and he gradually couldn't hear it. It was as if the grief in her heart for the death of her relatives in the war had also passed away little by little with the cry that gradually subsided.

A few days later.

Ping Ning was sitting in the car, and the carriage suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"The county lord is not bitter little father-in-law."

"Not bitter?" The little mute next to Brother Jiu?

Ping Ning stretched out his hand and lifted the curtain, and when he saw the young man, he shook hands and put them into fists on his chest and saluted her. Turning sideways, he looked at a carriage not far away, and made a gesture of invitation to Pingning.

It was Xiao Chulan who was sitting in the carriage, and his face seemed to be worse after not seeing him for a few days.

He seemed to be taking a nap with his eyes closed, and when he woke up, he was not in a very good state, his eyes were pale blue, and his lips were very pale. "Are you okay? General Choi's business, I..."

Ping Ning shook his head and sat down beside him. "It's none of your business, it's helpless."

A faint pain flashed in Xiao Chulan's eyes, and he raised his hand to touch her cheek, and the back of his slender and cold fingers coveted her warmth and smoothness, and he stopped tasting it. "Do you know about Cui Yanyu's request to return to the battlefield?"

Ping Ning was stunned, obviously not knowing, but this was also expected, so she was not too surprised. "We have no choice but to keep fighting. Cousin, too, understood. ”

Xiao Chulan leaned on her shoulder wearily and buried his head in her neck.

Ping Ning: "Do you remember Sikong Yuan's words that day? It is true that the Li Dynasty is not suitable for war now, but once it sues for peace, it will mean the destruction of the country. Therefore, this battle has to be fought, and his words should be based on the destruction of the country, even if the country changes hands, the people are still those people. So, Brother Jiu, I'm a little shaken. ”

"Not necessarily. In his position, we are just doing what we have to do, and you and I are not saints. ”

Defending the homeland and the legacy of our ancestors... All this pushed them to the forefront, and they persevered on the road of not seeing the future clearly.

"Have you had a good rest? The face is even worse than the last time I saw you, what did the Imperial Doctor say? ”

Xiao Chulan leaned on the pillow and slipped on Ping Ning's lap and smiled. "What can the Imperial Doctor say, it's nothing more than clichés, nothing good to hear."

"Really? But I heard that there is a young female medical officer in the Tai Medical Department who has a wonderful hand of rejuvenation, named Shen Zhizhou. Has she seen it? ”

"Shen Zhizhou?" Xiao Chulan opened his eyes and remembered this person. "Indeed, the medical skills are good, and he is willing to tell the truth, much more pragmatic than the other medical officers of the Tai Medical Department. She has been conditioning a little better before, but she has been a lot of things in the past few days and is a little tired. ”

Ping Ning traced his handsome eyebrows and eyes, and said softly, "You-have you ever regretted it?" If you don't become an emperor, you have a better choice. ”

Xiao Chulan looked at her and said with a deep look in his eyes: "There is nothing to regret." If my brothers ascend to the throne, there is a high chance that they will be wiped out. Even if I don't, I won't let us survive easily, my body can't stand the toss. It's not without benefits now, and the most important thing is to be able to protect you, and I don't regret it. ”

"Pingning, you speak."

"Say what?"

"I want to hear you call me Brother Nine."

Ping Ning indulged his occasional childlike temper and said with a smile: "Ninth brother, ninth brother... Brother Nine can listen to it as many times as he wants. ”

"That's—"

“？”

Seeing her tilt her head and smile lightly, the words she wanted to say suddenly shrank back into her heart. Xiao Chulan closed his eyes, "It's nothing." ”

He wanted to ask: If you can listen to it as many times as you want, can you keep shouting?

But what's the point? In his foreseeable life, what he should do is to grasp the present, not to look forward to the unattainable future.

"Pingning, I want to hear it again."

"Brother Nine."

*

Cui Jingyu lowered her head, before the mourning period of General Cui had passed, General Cui Xiao was about to leave Beijing and go to the battlefield.

"Jingyu, for brother..."

"Come back alive." Tears couldn't help but burst out of her eyes, Cui Jingyu pulled his battle robe and said, "Come back alive no matter what, please." Elder brother. ”

"Okay."

Cui Yanyu looked at Ping Ning, "I'm not here, Jingyu will be taken care of by you." ”

Ping Ning: "I'm here, don't worry." The sword has no eyes on the battlefield, cousin, be careful. ”

"Hmm."

On the other side, Shen Zhizhou was desperately stuffing the wound medicine that he could bring and the medicine that could be used into Huo Bai's baggage.

"Okay, Zhizhou, enough is enough." Huo Bai was holding the burden that was full of her, a little helpless.

"Enough is enough! Why didn't you tell me earlier when you were conscripted! Shen Zhizhou said to him excitedly, and before he knew it, his eyes were full of tears.

"This matter is settled and can't be changed, I'm afraid you're worried."

"Now I'm more worried, okay! I don't even have time to help you prepare..."

If you spend the first two days dragging her around, I don't know how much more you can do. "It's a battlefield, a battlefield! Neither Anhou nor General Cui came back alive, if you-"

Huo Bai leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, "Wait for me." ”

He looked into her eyes, wiped away the tears that were about to overflow, and said seriously: "I won't die, I really won't die." Trust me, Zhizhou. ”