In the blink of an eye, it has been the Shangyuan Festival, three days before and after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year, the curfew is lifted, the lanterns are lit, the warblers sing and swallow dance, and the alleys are empty, and the carnival is up to the day. Men and women, young and old, officials and civilians can take to the streets to party.

Lou Yunxiao wore a red dress like a delicate little lantern in the crowd, and Mu Lingci could always find her accurately in the crowd.

"Xiao'er, you run slower." Mu Lingci grabbed the cheerful Lou Yunxiao, there were too many people carnivaling on the street, Mu Lingci hugged Lou Yunxiao lightly, for fear that she would bump into it.

It's no wonder that Mu Lingci always takes care of her carefully, after all, this little girl is only as high as his chest.

"During the Shangyuan Festival last year, the Fu family was still in control of the Lou family, and I didn't have a chance to come out to play." Lou Yunxiao picked up the rabbit lantern in her hand, and saw the stall guessing lantern riddles on the side of the street, and ran over happily.

Lou Yunxiao just said it casually, but Mu Lingci felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, although he didn't love his father and mother since he was a child, at least he had never been hungry or beaten.

He still clearly remembered Lou Yunxiao's calm expression when he said that he wanted to poison Qu Kangyu, and said that he should not persuade others to be kind without others' suffering, which was true, so he was more surprised than distressed.

Mu Lingci was about to walk over, when suddenly a man in armor rode a horse at a gallop, and the crowd dispersed.

"Get out of the way! Military Emergency! Get out of the way! ”

The crowd suddenly dispersed to both sides, and Lou Yunxiao, who was still guessing the lantern riddle, was knocked down before she could stand firmly, Mu Lingci rushed over with an arrow when she saw this, and hugged her with both hands stuck under her arms like a child.

"What's going on?" Lou Yunxiao was still in a state of confusion.

"The military situation is urgent, I'm afraid something has happened." Mu Lingci looked at the horses in the distance, and a bad premonition rose in his heart.

Sure enough, on the second day, Emperor Shun discussed the matter with the ministers in the court.

Jiannan Dao sent out a group of bandits and robbers, at first only wandering around Huizhou, Yuzhou, and Jiazhou, robbing passers-by, but just half a month ago, this group of thieves suddenly launched an attack on Huizhou. And this group of people is strong and strong, and they caught Huizhou off guard.

Huizhou assassin Shi was beheaded on the spot, and Ge Jiao, the commander of Zhichong, saw that the bandits were strong and abandoned the city and fled, and the remaining soldiers were leaderless, and finally made Huizhou completely fall.

"Holy Lord, Ge Jiao abandoned the people in fire and water, and he must be arrested and severely punished!" Ning Taishi reprimanded angrily, "But the most important thing at the moment is to recover the city, the terrain of Huizhou is dangerous, if you don't recover it as soon as possible, I'm afraid that other cities in the area of Jiannan Road will also be affected." ”

At this time, Shen Jinfeng walked out and said: "Holy Lord, the minister thinks that General Mu is the most suitable candidate. If General Mu is the commander-in-chief, the minister is willing to go with General Mu to recover the city. ”

Mu Lingci thought in his heart, this Shen Jinfeng was already empty and had a false name, but this time he was in a hurry, which was really a bit abnormal. It's a pity that Su Jingtian's old injury recurred, and he didn't come to the court today, otherwise no matter what happened, it would not be Shen Jinfeng's turn to make noise here.

When Emperor Shun heard that Mu Ling was resigned, he hurriedly said: "The area around Jiannan Road is full of miasma and poisonous insects, and even the locals are inevitably hit, let alone others?" If you are not completely sure, you should not rush to send troops, so as not to innocently damage good generals. ”

"Holy Lord, if it is just an ordinary bandit, it is impossible to capture a city in a short time, if you don't solve it as soon as possible, you are afraid of endless troubles." Qiao Hongshi also walked out to second.

Seeing that Emperor Shun was in a dilemma, Mu Lingci stood up, "The minister is willing to take the order to Huizhou to regain the lost territory." ”

"Cangyuan, don't act impulsively." The prince looked sideways and persuaded.

Mu Lingci's eyes were very firm, "The minister knows the danger of Huizhou, this battle must be fought, even if General Guide does not recommend the minister, the minister will invite himself to go." ”

Emperor Shun sighed, there was a recklessness in the people of this Mu family.

"Exactly."

On this expedition, Mu Ling resigned as the commander-in-chief, and Shen Jinfeng was the deputy marshal, and he decided to set off seven days later to quell the chaos and suppress the bandits.

Soon the news spread all over the streets and alleys of the capital, and Lou Yunxiao was happily waiting for Mu Lingci to pick her up again in the evening to go to the Lantern Festival, but who knew that what was waiting for was the news that he was going to go on an expedition.

After retiring from the dynasty, the prince invited Mu Ling to resign to the East Palace.

The two people under the window were silent for a long time, but the prince couldn't help but open his mouth first.

"Cangyuan, this expedition is by no means as simple as it seems, Shen Jinfeng strongly recommends that you probably have other intentions, if he takes this opportunity to put you in a disadvantageous situation, how should you deal with it? What's more, Jiannan Dao is full of dangers, and if you are not careful, you will be poisoned and die, are you really not afraid of death? ”

"This group of bandits chose to start from Jiannan Road because of its dangerous terrain, and the miasma of mountains and forests as a natural barrier, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, so it can be seen that they are not bandits at all, but premeditated to occupy the land of the Northern Sage. Regardless of whether this matter is a conspiracy of the Shen family, it is the innocent people who really suffer, if no one recovers the lost territory, Huizhou will completely fall, followed by Jiazhou and Yuzhou, and there will be more innocent people at that time. ”

Mu Lingci naturally knew that Shen Jinfeng's purpose was not pure, and he guessed that the Nine Emperor Princes knew that Qu Kangyu's matter was done by him, so he wanted to take advantage of the Huizhou Rebellion to get rid of him. At the beginning, Mu Ling's calculation Qu family wanted to use Qu Kangyu to attack the Nine Emperor Princes and the Shen family, and naturally he didn't think that he could hide it from the Nine Emperor Princes and the Shen family.

Now that the relationship between friend and foe has been put on the surface, it is not so easy for the Shen family to take advantage of the opportunity to harm him. If you can lure the snake out of the hole, it would be better to catch the Shen family off guard.

In the evening, the sun sets.

Mu Lingci came out of the East Palace and went straight to the mansion, he thought to himself, Xiao'er must be very worried.

However, the truth was just as he thought, Lou Yunxiao was so worried after hearing Lou Xuanyi say how dangerous Jiannan Dao was, she almost sat under the corridor outside Canglan Zhai's bedroom and waited for Mu Lingci for half a day.

"Xiao'er." As soon as Mu Lingci entered the door, he saw Lou Yunxiao sitting on the railing under the porch with a rabbit lantern.

Lou Yunxiao raised her head suddenly, jumped down excitedly, threw down the lantern and threw herself into his arms, "You're finally here." ”

In the dim room reflected by the afterglow of the slanting sun, Mu Lingci and Lou Yunxiao talked a lot, he was most relieved and reluctant to be her, Lou Yunxiao slowly took out the white jade hairpin from the brocade box in the makeup and put it in his hand.

"If you miss me, take it out and see it."

He held the hairpin tightly and nodded, the two hugged each other and talked a lot, and Mu Lingci stayed with her until nightfall.

In the next seven days, Mu Lingci was busy with various matters, and it was not until the day of the expedition that he saw Lou Yunxiao again.

On a cold winter day, Lou Yunxiao's nose and ears were red from freezing, she looked at the face of the man in front of her, tried her best to restrain her tears, and took out two bottles of pills from her arms.

"In this red bottle is the hundred poison pill I developed, which is refined with dozens of medicinal materials such as andrographis and Chonglou, this medicine can cure all kinds of poisons, especially the poison of miasma poisonous insects is the most effective, if you feel unwell, take it immediately. This white bottle contains life-saving pills that should only be taken as a last resort. You must remember. ”

Mu Lingci took the medicine bottle from her cold little hand, the last time she developed the hallucinogenic medicinal wine for nearly a month, but this time it only took less than seven days, just looking at the deep dark green under her eyes, you can know a thing or two, she must have developed these medicines all night.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly in his arms and buried his head in the socket of her neck, he was obsessed with the smell of her, a smell that reassured him.

And the little man in his arms was trembling slightly, and her slight sobs could be heard.

For the first time, Mu Lingci really felt that she loved him.

"When I come back, three books and six ceremonies, three media and six hires, ten miles of red makeup, and Ming media are marrying. Xiao'er, this is what I promise you. But if I can't come back, and if I can't keep this promise, you will forget me, and only if I am a person with a bad heart, and you will scold me and forget me completely. ”

Mu Ling let go of her after saying that, turned around and got on the horse in a dashing manner. He didn't dare to look back at her, but he still couldn't hold back. Lou Yunxiao's eyes were red from crying, she looked at him aggrieved and strong, and smiled hard at him.

She moved her lips, but she didn't make a sound, but Mu Lingci could see what she was saying.

"I'll wait for you to come back and marry me."