Four years later.

On the side of the spacious school field, there was a circle of young men and women. This is the martial arts hall in Dingnan Town, and the military discipline is not stricter than that of the regular army of the Great Qi Empire. The half-grown children were standing or sitting, their eyes firmly on a pair of figures on the field.

Both of them were dressed in light armor, one with a short knife and the other with a spear, and they fought fiercely. At one moment, the blade of one person grazed the arm armor of the other, and after a while, the tip of the spear of one person pierced the waist of the previous person, and the two sides saw the moves, and the knives and guns were all turbulent, but they were not in order, and the audience erupted into laughter from time to time.

In the south in mid-spring, the sun is already very hot. The light jumped back and forth between the armor and the weapon, far smoother than the movements of the two teenagers.

Not far from the sidelines, among the mottled shadows of the trees, a man with a beautiful figure looked this way, and slightly covered his smiling eyebrows with his sleeves, and he didn't know whether it was the scorching sunshine or the clumsy heroism of the young man.

The road to the martial arts hall turned around, and this person disappeared for a while, but after a while, he turned back, and grabbed the little girl in red who was watching the excitement for a while, and asked embarrassedly, "Xiaoyou, do you know where your mountain chief is at the moment?" ”

The little girl in red was a little scared, and seemed to be startled by him, but as soon as she raised her eyes and saw his face, the little girl's cheeks flushed a little shyly, and she didn't say anything for a long time.

This man is none other than Yuan Zhizhi. Seeing this, he touched his nose with a little embarrassment. At this moment, another little girl in blue clothes who was about the same age next to her interjected, "She doesn't speak well in official words, and when she sees her good-looking uncle, she becomes even worse." The little girl in blue turned out to be a narrow ghost, and as she spoke, she poked the little girl in red, laughed for a while, and then said, "The mountain chief is still on the sidelines...... Hey, it's out! ”

She stretched out her hand and pointed, Yuan Pingzhi turned her head, and saw a person walking out of the warehouse on the other side of the school field, this person was originally facing the direction of Yuan Pingzhi, but suddenly his body was stunned, bent down to pick up a crossbow, raised his hand and an arrow broke out of the air, and the spear of one of the teenagers on the field had already reached the side of the other person's neck, but he took it out in response.

The young man was stunned for a moment, then lifted his helmet, revealing a smiling face soaked in sweat.

But it turned out to be a little girl again.

"It's a good move, but it's a school fight, and it's up to the point. The loser is gone, and the substitution comes again. As he spoke, the mountain chief walked over to the losing young man, patted his shoulder armor and said a few words of encouragement—leaving an oil handprint by the way, and then turned to Yuan Zhizhi.

"Xiaoyu, I haven't seen you for a long time. You seem to have grown a little taller. Yuan Pingzhi smiled, "What are you doing hiding in the warehouse?" ”

"It's not hiding from you, I just went in and got the oil." Yu Moji rubbed his hands abruptly, "I was here to watch these children gesticulate and anoint the parts by the way. The south is humid and careless, and the armor can be easily damaged. It was not easy to come with the Zhennan Army......"

The martial arts halls of the Great Qi Empire are blooming everywhere, and she is probably the only mountain chief who is both an instructor and a miscellaneous servant.

Yuan Pingzhi listened to her chatter, and finally couldn't help frowning slightly, "I heard the Xuanzhi envoy say that the literary and martial arts classes here are still taught by you?" ”

"I've never been very good at the art of war and strategy," Yu Mojin became more and more embarrassed, "I haven't had a master come over for the first two years, so I have to live to teach it." This year, the seminary is finally going to start, so I asked the emperor for two instructors by the way. It should be in place in a while. She raised her eyebrows and smiled as she spoke, "I can teach the old professions such as machine operation and machine structure ......."

"Now someone has come to replace you," Yuan Pingzhi suddenly intercepted her words, "Do you still refuse to go back to the imperial capital?" ”

Yu Mojin was silent for a while, and suddenly heard a "ding" sound in her arms, she took out the bell and looked at it, and then shouted to the field, "That's it for today." Scattered, scattered! ”

Although the teenagers were still unsatisfied, they had no choice but to put down their weapons, put away their armor, and came forward to say goodbye to Yu Moji. When the little girl in red clothes left, she didn't forget to look at Yuan Yizhi twice.

Yuan Zhizhi: "......"

Yu Moji: "......"

The two looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh together. After a while, Yu Moji suddenly said, "Have you been to see Yan Zheng?" ”

Yuan Pingzhi shook his head, "I guess you might plan to go with me." ”

Yu Moji smiled again. She put the small bell away and said, "Let's go." ”

The two walked along the winding mountain road for a while, and asked a few villagers before they came to a slope. The surrounding area is a barren slope, but this place is surrounded by cypress forests and grasses, and a tomb made of white stone is independent of it, which is what the local population calls the "general's tomb". This tomb has been repaired once, and the bricks and stones are tightly fitted, but it still can't resist the weeds popping up at the seams.

There are bunches of gentian in front of the monument. This is a common flower in the area of Dingnan Town, which was probably laid down by a villager who came to worship; In addition, there are some wine stains, I don't know who borrowed the wine glass of the deceased to pour the block in his heart.

"Yan Zheng used to be very arrogant, and ordinary people never refused to go to banquets." Yuan Pingzhi said, and sat down cross-legged by the tomb, like a sergeant sitting in a circle after winning a battle, "Now it's okay, if any country man comes to give him a drink, he can only politely wait for people to go away." ”

Yu Moji came all the way, except when he asked for directions, he almost didn't say a word. She hesitated for a moment before sitting down in Yuan Yizhi's posture. "I didn't come much, I don't remember the way." She said in a low voice, "When I was buried, my comrades in the Zhennan Army said that this is where Yan Zheng died. ”

The south was hot and humid, and Yan Zheng's body could not be transported back to the imperial capital. Yan Zheng's father, who was a very popular minister, fainted several times in pain, but he could only agree to bury Yan Zheng here, and did not hesitate to transport earthwork from the imperial capital, and planted a row of tall cypress trees in this land where only a few weeds grew sparsely. Under the shade of cypress trees, a ring of low vegetation spreads out, and over the years, it has added a lot of life to the area.

Yuan Pingzhi sighed leisurely and said, "It's only been a few years, and I can't see that this place was a battlefield at all." ”

"Yes. A lot has changed. Yu Mojin hugged his knees and said slowly, "The road to the Southern Wilderness has been opened, and the Great Qi Empire has an inexhaustible thousand-year-old gold in a hundred years, and it will become more and more generous to make a move, and even this poor and remote Dingnan Town will be able to let civilians use the Yanji this year." Although the scorched earth left behind by the bombing is still a wasteland, there are also bold farmers who have laid new soil and planted grass seeds, and it is said that if they succeed, these farmers will try to grow crops again. They always want to get the barren land back as soon as possible. ”

"Since the establishment of the town, the speed of restoration in this place has far exceeded the imagination of the imperial court." Yuan Pingzhi glanced at her as he spoke, "Everyone is looking forward." What about you? Just leave the place vacant for you by the Cardinal, and you have to be a mountain chief here? ”

"Isn't it good?" Yu Mojin said lightly, "I don't plan to let the children enlist in the army, if anyone can get into the Cardinal, it's up to them." I let them learn martial arts, on the one hand, to pay for the name of the martial arts hall, and on the other hand, to let the children strengthen their physical fitness and perseverance. The most important thing is to learn all kinds of machines. The young people in this place have thoroughly mastered the part of the Yanjia learning that the imperial court has relaxed to the people, so they no longer need to rely on a lot of manpower to complete the heavy physical work of changing soil and planting seedlings and building water conservancy. The scorched earth and waste rivers we left behind back will soon disappear. How nice. ”

"Xiaoyu, you yourself said back then that only such a way can you level the Xuannu Sect. To eliminate the consequences of that battle back then, it is the responsibility of the entire Great Qi Empire, and you should not bear it alone. Yuan continued patiently, "Besides, is this really the life you want?" From the first time I met you, I knew that your passion for the study of Armor was far greater than that of the average person. ”

Yu Mozhen smiled. What was she doing the day she first met Yuan Pingzhi? seems to be making up for Wei Linyuan's son-in-law...... It's only been a few years, and a lot of things are gone.

"Even in today's Cardinal, there are few people who can reach the level of achievement you did back then." Yuan Pingzhi continued, "The position of Protector is second only to Lord Ling and Master Lu, but you are completely worthy of it. ”

Yu Moji didn't comment, only looked at Yuan Pingzhi, and said with a smile, "What about you, General?" ”

"Alas," Yuan Pingzhi sighed, "I told you a long time ago that my greatest ambition in this life is nothing more than to remove my armor and retire, marry Jingliu, and go to the Jiayuan River to be an idle Jianghu guest." However, you will never return to the imperial capital to take over. Everything fell to me, and I couldn't finish it and pick it clean. ”

Yu Mojin pulled her hair a little embarrassed, she felt that this was obviously Yuan Yizhi's own business, and it shouldn't be counted on her head, but she felt a little sorry inexplicably in her heart. After struggling like this for a while, she finally chose to ignore the matter.

"Actually, you don't want to let go." The volume of the ink marks was very low. Many years have passed, and she is still a little timid when she speaks in front of Yuan Pingzhi, "Can you really rest assured that the work you have built up by yourself will be handed over to others?" ”

"Leaving it to someone else, I naturally can't rest assured; But as long as you are willing to take it, I can immediately ask Lord Ling to resign. Yuan Pingzhi smiled and said, "What's more, I gave up this kind of seed for the most important wish in my heart." What about you? What did you say to me and Master Lu in the past? ”

Yu Moji was silent for a long time, and finally said, "I hope to have the opportunity to study the science of Yanjia. ”

"Yes," Yuan Yizhi looked straight ahead, as if he was still thinking about their previous experiences in the Cardinal, "I knew that you must not have given up on this matter. ”

"Not only that," Yu Moji added, "I...... I hope that the women of the world, the people, the lowly, and the criminals, no matter who they are born with, will have such an opportunity, or at least a choice. ”

The other end of this opportunity is not only the most cutting-edge knowledge of the Great Qi Empire, but also the freedom and equality that Yu Moji has been seeking for more than 20 years. She has begged for herself, for the country, and now she is asking for the same opportunity for this poor and remote lecture hall.

"That's why you're here." Yuan Pingzhi said leisurely, "But have you ever thought that if you stay here, all the hard work can only change one village and town." If you return to the imperial capital, you can do more. ”