Regardless of whether she really had no intention of marriage as his uncle said, Ye Zhongli entrusted the second half of his granddaughter's life to him out of trust in him.

He betrayed the trust.

Before this moment, no matter how hard it was to find someone, there was still hope in his heart, and finally when he arrived, maybe she had returned from the other way to wait for her grandfather here.

Even though he knew that this hope was extremely slim, but when it was really disappointed, at this moment, he stopped in front of this silent hut, and could not tell whether it was the tiredness accumulated for days or the unprecedented self-blame, which instantly pressed down on him like a mountain.

A neighbor who lived nearby said that the grandfather and grandson came three years ago, when the two passed by nearby, the young man was sick, found here, recuperated for more than half a month, and after his health gradually improved, he settled down. The villagers did not know the origin of the pair of grandchildren, only that their surname was Ye and they were good at painting. In the past three years, the boy not only painted the door gods for the villagers at their request, but also taught the children to read and write, and the villagers respected them very much. But at the end of last year, the grandfather and grandson suddenly left again for some reason, and before leaving, they also gave away all the utensils used in the house, and they should not come back.

I don't know where his grandchildren have gone. At the end of last year, my lady picked some peppercorns from the mountains, and was reluctant to sell them out, so she kept some of the peppercorn wine she made for the New Year, and said that she wanted to send a pot to Ye Xiaolangjun and ask him to drink it to ward off evil spirits, only to remember that the person had left, and he had been talking for a long time......"

The neighbor's tone was full of regret.

Where the hell did she go? Where are people now, are they safe?

"Lang Jun! It's April, so you have to hurry up and hit the road. I'll keep an eye on the search. ”

Pei Xiaoyuan suddenly heard He Jin reminding him softly beside him.

He came back to his senses.

The time of coming out is not short, and Chengping and his party must have already entered Beijing. It is true that there is not much time left for him, and if he fails to meet the deadline for the complaint, he will be stripped of his position at least and convicted at worst.

Before leaving, Pei Xiaoyuan gave the neighbor some money, instructed to take care of the hut, not to teach wind and rain erosion, and said that Ye Xiaolangjun is his brother-in-law, if he returns one day, he will go to the county party to pass on a message, and then rush to the county party outside the mountain, after identifying himself, he said that if he received the news, please send it to Jinwuwei in Beijing by post mail.

The search for the missing person ended in vain.

The deadline for resignation was approaching, and there was no longer any room for delay, so he didn't stay for a moment, and turned around that day and rushed to Jingluo.

Chapter 12

Smoke was everywhere and the flames were blazing.

In this abandoned city, there was a sound more terrible than the howls of wild beasts tearing at their prey, the evil sounds of the rebels who had invaded the city.

Although there was bad news early on, the rebels were fierce and conquered cities in the north, but for the people living in Jingluo Chang'an, even the imperial capital barrier Dongguan would be breached, which was an impossible joke. Therefore, half a month ago, when the news began to circulate everywhere that the official army was defeated and the rebels were about to be called, no one took it seriously. What, afraid? The Son of Heaven is still sitting here, how can the sky fall? Even on this day, another news spread wildly in the streets, His Majesty the Emperor had quietly fled west last night, the hundred officials went to court this morning, saw no one, all fled separately, the palace was empty, and riots began all over the city, there were still people who refused to believe it with the idea of luck. Chang'an Yonggu, how can it be broken?

It wasn't until this day, at the last moment, that countless refugees rushed to the outskirts of the city, and the rebels were about to be killed, that these abandoned people cried out, followed their Son of Heaven, and embarked on the road of escape.

When the girl wakes up in the dark and struggles to crawl out of a deep ditch by the side of the road, her familiar world shatters and becomes a living hell.

The rebels who were the first to enter the city had finished their raid on the palace and were brazenly trooping through the thoroughfares and houses, killing people and setting fires and plundering everywhere.

Her head hurt as if it had been hit, and she couldn't remember anything, and she didn't know why she woke up in this place alone, let alone where her home was. Little she stood alone in a wasteland, her eyes wide in fear, looking at a world that was completely alien to her, and wanting to find her mother. But she couldn't remember where her mother was, and why she had left her alone in this strange and terrible place. All she remembered was that she had a mother, and after kissing her, she went to a place, and then never returned to her. Instinctively, she stepped away, weeping, and headed in the direction of the city's most blazing expanse, which almost half of the night sky was lit up.

That's where her mother went.

On the way to find her mother, she saw more and more dead people. Some of them lay at the door of the house, their burdens cut open by knives scattered in pools of blood, others stacked on top of each other, and the mother protected the baby in her arms, motionless, already stiff. She stumbled past them, her initial fear turned to numbness, she fell and got up, got up and fell again, kept going, her delicate palms and knees were already broken and bleeding, but she didn't seem to know the pain, and only wanted to go to her mother.

At last she reached the place where she felt it, and the door of the palace, which was usually closed, was wide open. She was wandering outside, and saw a eunuch who had rolled up his belongings but had not had time to escape, and had been cut down outside the palace gates, and was not yet dead, holding the half-severed arm that had fallen from his body, and was howling miserably, when suddenly she saw her, dropped her severed arm, and crawled towards her with a twisted body, and she was terrified, and rushed in desperately.

Guided by instinct, she finally found this place. But what about mothers? She didn't know that she was looking around like a headless fly, looking for one palace after another, and from time to time she bumped into outsiders who took advantage of this opportunity to fish in troubled waters and steal things, but she never found her mother. At last she broke into a place where the palace was as high as the sky, and the walls were painted with glorious pictures of gods and mountains. But there was still no mother here, and she wanted to quit and look elsewhere, only to find that it was surrounded by fire. She lost her way, couldn't find her way out, and was forced to stop in the corner of a mural that had not yet burned, calling out to her mother, and crying loudly.

The firelight engulfed the gods on the wall and the rivers and mountains they overlooked, approaching the small figure in the corner, she was choked by the smoke and coughing, and at the moment of suffocation and fainting, in the hazy eyes of tears, she saw a figure appear in the firelight, walking towards her.

She woke up at the side of a stranger. He had a tousled beard, and he didn't look very old, but his sideburns were gray, and his eyes were deep and gentle.

She didn't know how he had been so coincidental at that time in the palace that had been looted and burned. It was he who rescued her. When he took her out of Chang'an, it was dawn and it was raining.

She hid under the clothes he had draped over her, and secretly opened her eyes, quietly watching the stranger's back. He kept looking at the city. The rain had extinguished the raging fires, and in the distance thick smoke rose slowly under a gloomy sky full of cumulonimbus clouds.

He just watched like that, stared at her for a long time, and when he turned around, he saw her looking at himself, touched her head, and then picked her up.

"You don't know what your name is, Ah Gong will give you a name."

The drizzle was dashing, helpless, like a gossamer flying and swaying with the wind, but it also cleansed the air in the world full of fireworks and blood, purifying the blood and dust on the girl's face, revealing her original jade and snow face.

"From now on, you will be called Suyu, is that okay?"

He groaned and said.

……

There was a rain last night, and this morning, the stars hung above the sky like a few tired eyes. Before dawn, Ye Xuyu left the guest house where he settled and continued to move forward.

What is about to arrive ahead is the destination of her trip, Jingluo Chang'an.

She did not go back to the paradise where she had lived in seclusion with her grandfather for three years, but went to the capital.

In that letter, she didn't lie. Although the fragments that existed in the deepest memories before meeting Ah Gong have not been fully renewed, since the serious illness three years ago, bit by bit, have gradually emerged.

Her place of origin is the capital.

In the three years since she settled, she knew that Ah Gong had been worried about the rest of her life. On that day, the palace gate was broken, and the passage was unimpeded, and in addition to the looting rebels, there were also many outlaws who fished in troubled waters. When Ah Gong met her in the corner of the mural wall, she was dressed in coarse cloth clothes, crying and looking for Ah Niang, who should have mistaken her for an ordinary child. When he grew up, he also asked her more than once if she still remembered where her home was and if she wanted to go back to find her relatives. In the past, she didn't remember and didn't want to go back, but then she was unsure and didn't dare to say.

Maybe she should be grateful to Pei Jialangjun who recognized her as her righteous sister.

Now that all hesitation was gone, she had made up her mind.

Don't return. Don't return.

The voice of the beauty in the dream is earnest, always echoing in her ears, telling her not to return.

But she is back today. This is the knot of her heart and the source of her fate. She had to come back.

When she left the county guard mansion that day, the reason why she chose to say goodbye was because since she had made up her mind to return, instead of following her grandfather's arrangement to be a Pei family wife with a stable second half of her life, she could not have more unnecessary involvement with the other party.

She also knew that no matter how resolute she was in leaving the book, she would definitely not let her leave alone with Pei Ji as a person, so after she went on the road, she deliberately avoided the Pei family who were looking for her on the first few official roads, and abandoned the flat and rich south road, and instead took the steep north road, and went south, from the beginning of the year to today, on the last day of April, the road came here.

There are still dozens of miles, and you will reach Kaiyuan Gate, which is known as the first west gate of Chang'an.

……

The day before the deadline for his death, at the end of April of the 17th year of Qiande, Pei Xiaoyuan rushed to Changlepo in the east of Chang'an.

Changle Slope is only six or seven miles away from the main gate of Tonghua Gate in the east of the imperial city, which is the only way for officials and scholars to go out of Chang'an in the east. When he arrived, it was already dark, and there was a rain in the evening, and the clothes could not completely block the rain, although it was the twilight of spring, but it was the cold rain of spring, and he was in a hurry to stay overnight, including himself, several people were indeed tired, and the city gate had already been closed at this point, so he stopped, planning to spend the night in Changle Station, and enter the city tomorrow morning, just in time for the last day, and it was not postponed.

He didn't have many people with him, only two of them. Because He Jin had a position, he could not enter Beijing without a call, and he parted ways with him and returned to Ganliang after leaving Luzhou.

The night guard in Changle Station had a cold attitude, almost didn't look at people squarely, and when he saw Jin Wuwei's farewell, his attitude changed slightly, and he arranged food and accommodation.

Pei Xiaoyuan's house is extremely small, only allowing one stay and one case, and no one more is allowed to turn around, and there is a stable nearby, and a strong smell wafts in the wind from time to time.

□□When the officials introduced Pei Xiaoyuan to come, they saw that the two entourages showed disgruntle, and they probably felt that it was inappropriate, and they glanced at the face of the main master, and explained, saying that since the beginning of the year, there has been an endless stream of dignitaries and nobles who have entered Beijing from all over the country, and they came late tonight, and there is no other vacant room, only this one is left, and it is good to be able to live.

Pei Xiaoyuan didn't care. Before his family changed out of Beijing, he also had a life comparable to that of a prince and grandson. He knows how Chang'an is as prosperous as a flower, and he has not seen Chang'an's light and thin face. An ordinary Jin Wuwei's farewell, in other places, may also have some weight, but at the feet of the Son of Heaven, in this Changle Post that guards the east gate of the imperial capital, it is really nothing, not to mention, he has nothing to show in the dust, how can he put it in his eyes all year round.

If he is at ease, his entourage can only give up. Pei Xiao and Yuanzhi followed him to work hard for a long time, and their lives were gone, and they also entered the house. As soon as he changed out of his wet clothes, he heard a knock on the door, and when he opened the door, he saw that it was the post man who was here, followed by the post man who had just received him, but the other party was the same as the two of them a moment ago, and he looked terrified. As soon as Pei Xiaoyuan showed his face, he forged: "The villain has eyes and doesn't know Mount Tai, so he has offended a lot, Pei Langjun forgives!" ”

Pei Xiaoyuan was slightly puzzled and looked at Yi Cheng.

"Dare to ask Lang Jun, but Pei Xiaoyuan, the cloud cavalry lieutenant under Pei Gong Pei Ji's mansion in Weiyuan County, Ganliang Dao?"

Pei Xiaoyuan should have asked him what was the matter.

Yi Cheng raised his foot, kicked the post guard next to him hard, and kicked the person to the ground, then turned to Pei Xiaoyuan, and explained repeatedly, saying that he didn't know that he was coming just now, so he was disrespectful, and he came to make amends. Although the house is indeed tight, there is a spare upper house that is still empty tonight, so he is asked to move and move to the past.

The upper house is for high-ranking officials above the third rank. Pei Xiaoyuan smiled: "How dare you trespass." I can stay here for just one night. ”

Yi Cheng begged again and again, but he was unmoved, so he had to give up, and instead replaced him with incense burners, bright candles, hot tea, hot water, and clean bedding, and then retreated.

Changle Yi was contemptuous and then respectful, but he was tired from walking in order to meet the deadline, so he didn't think much about these things outside his body, and went to bed after cleaning up, and fell asleep quickly. I don't know how long it took, but suddenly there were a few more knocks outside the door, and the sound was very soft, but he still woke up immediately and asked questions.

"There are people in the palace outside, please Pei Langjun go out to meet." Yicheng's voice rang out.

Pei Xiaoyuan slowly opened his eyes.

"Who's in the palace?"

"The deacon of the Si Gong Tai—"

"It's Yuan Value, Yuan Nei Servant."

Afraid that he didn't know who the other party was, Yi Cheng explained in a low voice.

***

Yesterday, I saw that some readers asked about the age of several supporting characters in the comments, and here is an explanation.

Pei Ji's age is set to be about 67, 68 years old.

There is an explanation in the first chapter of the saint, 500,000 years old, nearly 50 years old.

If Prince Jingsheng is still alive, he will be slightly older than the saint.

The man in blue in the previous chapter, in his early 30s.

The crown prince of the dynasty, who has not yet officially appeared, is also about 30 years old.

Chapter 13

Pei Xiaoyuan has been out of Chang'an since he was a child and has never returned. In recent years, some new characters have emerged in Beijing, he may have limited knowledge, but the eunuch Yuan Zhi still knows a little.

In today's Sigong Tai, he is the head of the inner servants.

In recent years, there have been no major events in the country, and the sage has relapsed due to the recurrence of the old wounds left by the peaceful warfare in that year, and the dragon's body is not safe, and he gradually focuses on asking the Tao, and the court meeting has also changed from the two days of the early Qiande Dynasty to the three, five, and ten days, and even now it is often rare once in half a month. The usual court affairs are all integrated from all places to the three provinces, and they are presented to the Sigong platform, and the saint reads it, and then it is issued by the Sigong platform. Sometimes officials can only convey it through Yuan Zhi in order to see the emperor. In this way, gradually, the cheeky people among the hundred officials also began to call him Little Grandpa with the eunuchs, and the prosperity of his flame can be seen.

And about the origin of this person's fortune, it is also quite legendary. It is rumored that he was engaged in the camp in the palace in his early years, although he was shrewd and capable, but he was always unknown. Later, it was also his time to come, the sage in order to get a place to burn the pure heart of Zhu Li, to build the Ziyun Palace, the court was opposed, but he waited for the opportunity to recommend himself, got the opportunity, and finally was able to display his strengths, not only completed in a short time, the Ziyun Palace was repaired beautifully, but also tried to simplify the budget, spend properly, and demolish some abandoned old halls to use the beams and pillars. In the end, Gong Cheng, all the expenses came from the inner government, and half a copper coin was not used by the household department, so that the minister, who had a lot of complaints about this matter, had nothing to say. In this way, he was able to show his face in front of the saint, and soon soared and became the "little grandfather" in the palace.

At this time, this eunuch suddenly came out of the palace and came here, Pei Xiaoyuan really didn't expect it.

"Yuan Neishou is still waiting for Pei Langjun."

Through the door, Pei Xiaoyuan also heard Yi Cheng's voice trembling slightly, as if he was trying his best to suppress some great fear.

Pei Xiaoyuan pressed the doubts in his heart, turned over and stayed, quickly finished dressing, and opened the door.

Yi Cheng was still standing at the door with a fire candle, looking as if he had hit a fierce man, his face was gray, his forehead was dripping with cold sweat, and when he saw Pei Xiaoyuan open the door, his eyes showed a look of sorrow and prayer, and he knelt down with a puff and begged for mercy in a low voice: "I beg Pei Langjun to help!" ”

Pei Xiaoyuan was about to ask him to get up and ask the reason, but Yi Cheng didn't say anything as if he was afraid of being seen, only kowtowed to him heavily, and then quickly got up from the ground, bowed his head without saying a word and led him forward.

Pei Xiaoyuan was full of suspicions. I found that he did not take the road he entered the post at night, but went out of the official post through the back door. Half a mile ahead, next to a forest, there were several palace guards holding fire sticks, the firelight was shining, shining out of the middle person, ochre-brown palace robe, black belt around the waist, about Chinese New Year's Eve, thin cheeks, high and straight nose, face like a knife, eyes were scorching and shining by a few fire sticks nearby, and the appearance looked very capable.

This person should be Yuan Zhi, the deacon of Sigongtai.

Pei Xiaoyuan stepped forward and stopped.

Although Yuan Zhi's status is special, he is a eunuch, belonging to the province of internal servants, not the boss of the officials in the stream, so he did not bow to him, but only served as a courtesy when people met for the first time.

"I heard that Deacon Yuan was coming, but I couldn't come out to greet him, and I hope you will forgive me."

The other party took advantage of the light of the surrounding fire rods to look at Pei Xiaoyuan slightly, a smile appeared on his lips, and he returned the salute: "You are Pei Cavalry Captain?" It's been famous for a long time, and I was able to meet today, and I really am a famous child, a talent, so you don't have to be polite to me! You have come for a long distance and traveled hard, I have specially instructed the people here, if you receive it, you must treat it well, but they despise you like this, it is my Yuan's fault. ”