please come back

Thanks to two good horses that can travel thousands of miles a day, Xia Heyu and Zhang Ling finally arrived outside the capital in early August.

Zhang Ling got two fake beards out of nowhere, pressed one on Chao Xia and Yu's face, and said, "Let's pretend a little bit, there is probably a portrait of you hanging in the city now."

Xia Heyu took off the fake beard stuck on his face, glued it on his upper lip, and led the horse with Zhang Ling to the city.Sure enough, as soon as he entered the city, he could see the sea arrest order at the notice beside the city gate, and the portrait on it was Xia Heyu.Xia Heyu just glanced blankly, the corners of his eyes never twitching.

The capital city is as prosperous as ever, with crowds coming and going, endless carriages and horses, the cries of hawkers in the market, and the calls of restaurants and inns to attract customers.

According to the secret letter, the execution day should be tomorrow, because the flag is to be sacrificed, so the place of execution is not at Caishikou, but at the gate of the barracks.

Xia Heyu was thinking about tomorrow's affairs indiscriminately, and put his hand on the horse's neck. The horse has lost a lot of weight after running around these days.

"Let's find a shop to rest your feet first, and your horse should be fed well." Xia Heyu said to Zhang Ling who was beside him.

"General, it's time for me to feed well." Zhang Ling rubbed his belly and smiled.

"Look at your prospects." Xia Heyu cursed, but didn't stop walking, and brought Zhang Ling to Qingfangzhai. This tavern is a time-honored restaurant in the capital, and it is also a place where Xia Heyu often comes to drink when he is free. .

The waiter of Qingfangzhai enthusiastically took the reins from Xia Heyu and Zhang Ling, and welcomed them into the shop.A few days ago, I was busy with military training all day long, and I haven't touched wine for a long time, so Xia Heyu ordered a pot of good wine after ordering a few signature dishes.

Zhang Ling was thirsty, so he kept pouring tea for himself while Xia Heyu and Xiaoer were ordering.Qingfangzhai's tea is very fragrant, the kind of mellow fragrance that seems to be accumulated over time.Xia Heyu smelled the aroma of tea and threw his tea bowl to Zhang Ling.

Zhang Ling brought tea to his mouth with his own tea bowl in his left hand, and poured tea into Xia Heyu's tea bowl with a teapot in his right hand. It seemed that he was very thirsty.

"Tonight, accompany me back to the Xia Mansion." Xia Heyu said quietly as he watched the tea pouring out from the spout.

"Puff...cough cough." Zhang Ling almost spit out half of the tea in his mouth, wiped his mouth and said, "Xia Mansion should have been sealed, general, are you planning to... .”

"Over the wall." Xia Heyu grabbed his tea bowl and took a sip of tea and said, "Don't tell me you can't."

"Yes, yes, yes." Zhang Ling nodded and smiled quickly, "I did not fail to overturn the walls of your Xia Mansion when I was young."

Xia Heyu just smiled, buried his head in drinking tea and stopped talking.

The walls of the Xia Mansion were not very high, because the mansion had already been sealed by the imperial court, so no one was guarding the surroundings, and the two of them climbed into the courtyard without much effort.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, a strong smell of dust came to his nostrils. Under the moonlight at night, Xia Heyu could see that the clean and tidy courtyard in the past was now covered with broken leaves and rotten tiles.A few peonies in the yard have dried up because no one took care of them, and the remains of tables, chairs and wooden mats are piled up beside them.

Xia Heyu walked lightly in the mansion, his eyes swept over every corner of the mansion, while Zhang Ling quietly followed behind without making a sound.Most of the valuable items in the Xia Mansion had already been handed over to the treasury, leaving only some waste materials and a few houses.

The Xia Mansion is actually not small, but it seems a bit small when it is so messy and full of sundries.Xia Heyu took out a bow and a few arrows from a pile of sundries, shook off the dust and threw them to Zhang Ling, saying: "This bow is still usable, I really believe in your archery skills. It's self-defense."

Zhang Ling took the bow and arrow, touched it, and carried it on his back.Needless to say, Xia Heyu had some things. The tacit understanding between his subordinates and friends for many years made Zhang Ling very clear about what Xia Heyu would do tomorrow.

At noon on the second day, quite a few civilians outside the barracks were chattering about the prisoner kneeling on the temporary execution platform.

The man's white hair was disheveled, and there was a wine bowl and a battle flag in front of him. His hair was scattered in front of his forehead to cover his face, and his body was as thin as dry sticks. He looked like a man from a distance. The old man who is aging.

"General, are we thinking wrong? This person doesn't look like Mr. Jiang at all." Zhang Ling whispered to Xia Heyu, holding the bow in his hand tightly behind his back.

Xia Heyu also frowned tightly. Indeed, from a distance, this person's appearance couldn't possibly be Jiang Linyuan, but if it wasn't for him, who would be willing to die for Old General Xia?Xia Heyu mentally sketched all the people he knew in this life, but he couldn't find a suitable person.

Just as he was thinking, the time for execution had come, the executioner poked the shoulder of the man on the platform with the handle of his knife, and pointed to the wine on the ground, signaling him to drink it.

The man nodded slightly, picked up the wine bowl on the ground and handed it to his mouth, sipping it one mouthful at a time, as if drinking soup.

Xia Heyu stared blankly at this movement. Even though he was full of doubts, he could confirm that the person on the execution platform was Jiang Linyuan.

"Get ready to do it." Xia Heyu lowered his voice and said to Zhang Ling.

"But that person..."

"He is Jiang Linyuan." Xia Heyu said with certainty, stepped on the horse beside him, gave the horse's buttocks a hard slap, and ran straight to the execution platform regardless of the crowd in front of the horse.The guards at the edge of the execution platform heard Ma Ming and the commotion of the crowd, and hurriedly drew their swords and jumped onto the execution platform, but were shot straight by Zhang Ling, who was also on horseback outside the crowd.

Taking advantage of this time, Xia Heyu had already arrived on the execution platform, grabbed Jiang Linyuan, who was still a little dazed, and threw him on the horse in front of him, stretched out his hand and waved at Zhang Ling, and the three of them and two horses quickly ran out of the city.

All this happened very suddenly, and by the time the other soldiers reacted, the two fast horses had already run away, but the archers on the archery tower were unwilling, so Zhang Gong shot a few arrows at their backs, but they missed the horses. The man just pierced Xia Heyu's horse's ass again, which actually made the horse run faster.

"Xia...General Xia, you shouldn't have saved me." Jiang Linyuan held the horse's mane tightly with both hands, and his hair painted with lacquer flew in the wind, touching Xia Heyu's face, and whispered .

Although the voice was low, Xia Heyu could hear it clearly. He deliberately leaned close to Jiang Linyuan's ear and shouted, "Stop talking nonsense. If you die like this, I will always have the feeling that the Xia family owes you favors." , you are full of scheming, I will not be fooled by you."

Jiang Linyuan was so shaken that his head was buzzing, and he shrank his neck to the other side, but Xia Heyu said in a deep voice: "Jiang Linyuan, you should have died, but I let you go and saved you, so from now on it will be considered a death." In your next life, do you remember that you said that in the next life you will be a war horse and let me ride? Let me tell you, I don’t need you to be a war horse, but you must be used by me in this life. If you don’t help me clean up this mess, you will Don't even think about leaving!"

Jiang Linyuan turned his head suddenly when he heard this, but met Xia Heyu's eyes looking at him, with domineering and a little anger, and maybe a little tenderness and pity.The scene in front of him flashed quickly, but the eyes did not change. Jiang Linyuan slightly raised the corners of his lips that were cracked, and said, "But at the command of the general."