Bend Over [ 折腰 ] - Chapter 19

[Chapter 19: Return to the North]

Although Wei Shao had been plotting against Shi Yi for a long time, this attack was sudden, and there was no thorough preparation in advance, and the numbers were not superior. This fierce battle at the head of the city was won only by relying on the combat strength of the generals who had been trained through large and small battles for many years plus the strength of their own leaders in the army, and although they had doubts about the details of Xiao Qiao’s robbery that day, they could not idle all day, and they were suppressed, and they were not very attentive.

It started today. Shi Yi escorted a group of prisoners, one of whom was a close associate of Chen Rui who had slipped through the net that day by chance from Chen Huan’s knife, and in order to protect himself, he did not speak endlessly, telling the story of how he and others with Chen Rui had kidnapped Wei Shao’s wife from Liu Yan’s hands in Langya in the middle of the road.

Marriage with the Qiao family, he just pushed the boat along the water, never got on the heart, and never had the idea of dying with the Qiao girl, it was the time when the marriage was discussed, he did not ask half a sentence, let alone anyone had heard, Qiao Nu is beautiful or ugly, how degong, he does not care at all, as long as it is the Qiao family daughter who comes over, so he does not know that Xiao Qiao and Liu Yan have such a hidden affair before. Suddenly knowing, Ben felt unhappy, and even more unexpectedly, there was even Anglican Liu Yan who robbed people first, and then fell into the hands of Chen Rui.

The newlywed wife was so blatantly robbed into Shiyi, even if he Wei Shao did not care whether his wife was dead or alive, but as long as there was still a breath, it was impossible to be indifferent, forced to rush to attack Shiyi without making full preparations, and finally although he recaptured people, he also occupied the city, but his own losses also exceeded the original expectation, it was not light, and then he thought that Xiao Qiao was still in contact with Liu Yan, and the Qiao family was so humiliated by himself, with his usual eyes above the top How could he bear this breath, and he was furious on the spot, left behind other things, and went straight to the trouble.

Qiao Nu defended herself, which was also expected by him, what he did not expect was that he actually listened to her self-defense, and with her words, the anger that originally came out of her heart slowly subsided unconsciously, and his eyes did not fall on her.

Little Joe had just hurried out of the bath, wearing only a white shirt, and his long hair was also in the future to be taken care of, hanging over his shoulders, the ends of his hair were still dripping, and the water marks gradually spread, soaking the shoulders and a piece of clothing on her chest, clinging to her, if you cut your shoulders and a slightly undulating curve outline, it is a little looming.

Wei Shao’s gaze was fixed, and suddenly there was a glimpse of the scene he had seen when he leaned down to question her in the bath room a moment ago, and although she immediately shrank into the water, he had already caught a glimpse. Seeing that she looked private at the moment, the mood before the people on weekdays was very different, and suddenly a faint sense of strangeness arose in her heart, and immediately drove out the scene that was printed in her mind, raised her eyes, and saw that her cheeks were stained with tears, pear blossoms with rain, and more or less heard, her last sentence seemed to have a negative atmosphere, thinking that she did not restrain herself for a while, and when she just broke in, she should have really scared her, and she couldn’t help but feel a slight regret in her heart. Frowning urn, he said, “Where did so much nonsense come from?” Did I say Hugh you went back!

Little Joe turned his face sideways, raised his hand to quickly wipe away the tears on his face, and did not speak.

There was silence in the room.

Wei Shao saw that she no longer turned her face to herself, her eyes were only staring at the candlestick on the table next to her, as if it were a flower, and suddenly felt a little bored, hesitated, and said, “You wipe your hair and go to bed earlier.” “Turn around and walk away quickly.”

As soon as he left, Little Joe’s shoulders, which had been stretched, slowly loosened, and he let out a long sigh of relief, leaning against the side table with some fatigue.

……

After the storm of this night, everything is no different from the original. Only two days later, Zhong Mi sent Xiao Qiao a number of gold and a few pieces, in addition to this, there were two plates of Qiang peach and An Shi, which were rarely seen on weekdays, and crystal pomegranates that were only available in the tribute of the state. Zhong Mi said that it was sent at the behest of the prince.

Little Joe was slightly surprised. Guessing that it should be Wei Shao’s intention of making up for the little thing about that night, he smiled and said, Please tell the prince, she is very grateful.

Chunniang was busy letting the maid take the gift and thank her again and again.

“Lady, the old lady is old, and she needs to be served by her.” Tomorrow, the maid will leave for the first time, and she will no longer be able to serve the maid. The princess will stay here for some time, and when she returns to the north with the prince, she will be able to pay homage to the old lady.
Before
she left, she suddenly said something like this. The attitude of speaking is also the same as before, still the same cold. But it was the longest thing Little Joe had heard about herself in all these days. And noticed that in Zhong Mi’s words, there was no mention of another woman in the Wei family in Yuyang, Wei Shao’s mother, Lady Zhu of the Zhu clan.

She said a few words of good luck on the road.

Zhong Mi bowed to her and turned away.

……

Chun Niang had not never seen the world, but she was slightly happy at the pile of things sent by Wei Shao. He said that he would use this brocade to tailor her a new dress in two days.

“I’ve had enough clothes, I can’t put them on, I don’t have to do it anymore.”

Little Joe was a little careless, said, grabbed two qiang peaches in his hand, and rolled and played with them twice.

“Well, wait a while.” Chunniang ordered the maid to put away the gold and the veil, “The maid will help you peel the peach durian.” Wei Hou had a heart. Once upon a time in East County, it was rare to see such a pleasant peach grenade in winter…”

“I don’t like to eat these!”

Little Joe threw the peach in his hand back to the plate.

A peach jumped out of the plate and spun around on the table.

“You’ve eaten.”

She clapped her palms and said to the spring lady and maid who were looking at her in surprise.

……

Although they lived in the same place, after that night, Wei Shao had never come to Sheyangju. Sometimes Little Joe walked in the courtyard and met him by chance, and when he saw him, he was always in a hurry, and his attitude was naturally cold. If she really couldn’t hide from him, he would just casually “uh-huh” and never say much.

Wei Shao did not restrict Xiao Qiao from going out. But Little Joe never went out once. Her life was still very monotonous, and the only pleasure was about every day at dusk, climbing the sandalwood to look down at the sunset city or the distance beyond the city walls.

Sometimes, Xiao Qiao stood on the top of the sandalwood, and occasionally saw a group of people suspected of Wei Shao entering and leaving the city.

He seemed really busy, busy like a dog. Little Joe thought in his heart.

The days flowed through my fingers day by day, and the weather gradually became warmer. Although I can’t take off the heavy winter clothes on my body sooner or later, the wind blows and is no longer as forced as a knife cut. The glacier began to thaw, and the dry courtyard of sheyangju, which was originally gray, began to glow with a few shallow greens.

The day Xiao Qiao found that the branches of the begonia in front of the window began to sprout new shoots, Wei Shao sent someone to send her a message to pack her bags, saying that she would be ready to leave for the north in these two days.

Mrs. Xu’s sixtieth birthday is coming.

He needed to go back and celebrate his grandmother’s birthday.

……

Three days later, the carriage in which Xiao Qiao was riding slowly rolled over the bluestone pavement, and the letter was all taken to the north and headed towards Yuyang.

The road went smoothly and there were no more accidents.

Half a month later, the group arrived in Yuyang County.

There is a mountain in the northwest of Yuyang City Pool, known as Yushan Mountain, and the city is in the south of the mountain, so it is named Yuyang. Ancient also known as WuxianYi. Because of the northeast direction to a hundred miles, there is an ancient city called Wuxian, although the city is small, surrounded by mountains on three sides, winter is not as dry and cold as other places, living in it, such as in jiangnan. The Wei family was repairing in the Endless CityThere is a villa where Mrs. Xu lived last winter and has not yet returned to Yuyang.

Yuyang has been a place of war since ancient times. Hundreds of years ago, Yan built the Great Wall to defend against the Xiongnu, and the city wall passed from the side of Yuyang.

The Wei family began in the era of Wei Shao’s grandfather, in order to strengthen the northern defenses and deter the Xiongnu, moved the state administration from Fanyang to Yuyang further north, and after several generations, the city defenses were continuously strengthened, and in Wei Shao’s generation, the powerful Yi Evil Mo Shan Yu Wang easily did not dare to clash head-on with Wei Shao’s army. The area around Baitan and Shanggu, which had been repeatedly poisoned by the Xiongnu cavalry, has not had major wars for many years, the people have re-settled, and the population has gradually multiplied.

The day Little Joe arrived, the spring sun was bright. As the carriage approached the city gate, she looked curiously out the window. Seeing the distant front, under the blue sky, the city wall towered and destroyed the clouds, like two majestic giant black dragons, snaking along the east and west, with no end in sight. Gradually approaching, I saw that the whole city wall was made of huge blue-black stones nearly three feet high, which were as strong as the Great Wall. The tower above the city gate was not the archway style she was accustomed to, but a huge square tower like a bunker. Along the city walls, such towers are every few tens of meters, only slightly smaller than those on the city gates. The four corners of the tower are fluttering flags, and there are armored soldiers on the lookout, and the knife heads on the long ge are shining with a dazzling metallic light under the sunlight.

The news of the prince’s return to the city was brought to the city through the sentry. The city gate immediately opened widely, and a large group of armored non-commissioned officers poured out of the city in a column, divided into two sides of the road, and the deputy generals Li Dian and Zhang Jian, who remained in Yuyang Shushou, rushed out of the city on horseback to greet them. Wei Shao and the generals exchanged a little greeting, and then led the crowd into the city. Along the way, the sergeants saluted in unison and shouted “Return of the Prince”, the sound was like thunder, and the ears were beating. After entering the city, the people heard the news, and they also rushed out of their homes to welcome them, all the way over, and finally arrived at the ambassador’s mansion located in the middle of the north of the city.

The specific date of Wei Shao’s return to the city was not summoned home in advance, so his mother Lady Zhu did not know that the person was not at home today. The steward said that Madame Zhu took Zheng Shu to the Wuzhu Temple on the Fishing Mountain two days ago, and is still in the temple. He had already sent someone to inform him, and presumably he would return soon.

Lady Zhu was a firm believer in witchcraft, and in recent years she had become even more addicted, and she had frequent fellowships with the witches in the temple, and used to invite her to her home to worship like a god. He was met twice by Wei Shao, and when he saw that his son was not pleased, he rarely came to his home and went to the Wu Temple by himself. Although Wei Shao was tired, he saw that his mother had repeatedly persuaded him not to listen, and he was busy with military affairs, and he was at home all year round, and he was also beyond the reach of the whip, so he had no choice but to turn a blind eye and let her go. Just after entering the house, when he heard that his mother had gone to the witch temple again, he frowned slightly, and then ordered the steward to send the female monarch to the back house for resettlement.

[End of This Chapter]