you got on my tail

Far away outside the city, Bai Xuehe ordered Bai Fu to harness the carriage, and walked on the outskirts of the city all night until the sky turned white, and Bai Fu was so sleepy that he couldn't help but close his eyes several times, then he agreed to stop for a rest.

The end of the new year is approaching, and the Spring Festival is less than ten days away. Every family has started to get up early to pack up the New Year’s goods. The small yards of farmers in the suburbs are drying corn and meat. It is rare to be warm today. It's bright red, and it's really beautiful.

Bai Fu seemed to be dying of sleepiness, he drove the car under a tree, leaned against the carriage and fell asleep, Bai Xuehe lifted the curtain of the car, covered him with a blanket, and stared at the distant mountains and snow in front of him in a daze .

Cang Hua got off the car, asked the peasant woman to buy two pieces of roasted corn, and brought them to him in a porcelain bowl, Bai Xuehe separated the corn from it, and handed half to him.

"Why are you unhappy?" Cang Hua took the corn, and went to cover Bai Xuehe's hand. Although he was sitting in the car, his slender fingertips were still cold, and even turned blue from the cold.

"Where do I look unhappy?" Bai Xuehe turned around holding the corn, with a smile on his face, and said exaggeratedly: "Look, I'm obviously still laughing."

"You've been laughing all the time, but I can feel that you're not happy." Cang Hua looked at him seriously, and pointed to his chest.

Now Bai Xuehe had nothing to say, he made a helpless expression, then smiled again, peeled off the corn one by one and put them in his mouth, rather than eating them, he was more like playing.

Now Cang Hua got a little angry, and suddenly pulled his shoulders, Bai Xuehe shook in fright, the corn kernels fell from the palm of his hand, all sprinkled on the lapel of his clothes.

"What are you doing!" Bai Xuehe raised his eyebrows, reached out to pick up the corn, put it in his palm and handed it over, "You are wasting food, but luckily I have clothes to carry on, so you can eat it yourself!"

"What are you pretending to be with me?" Cang Hua was really angry, and raised his hand to grab his collar. Seeing Bai Xuehe's eyes when he subconsciously dodged, his heart tightened again. He was afraid that he would hurt him by mistake, so he took advantage of the situation The man stuffed it into his arms and hugged him fiercely and rubbed him a few times.

Bai Xuehe was wrapped under his body, and it was in vain to break free several times, so he had to pull out his right hand from under Cang Hua's body, raised it up and announced, "The corn is about to touch the ground, I haven't finished eating yet."

"I'm a dragon, I can't be a human, and I can't participate in human affairs." Cang Hua looked at his face and said solemnly.

"So what?" Bai Xuehe smiled, a little confused.

"So no matter what you say to me or what you do, other people will not know." Cang Hua explained seriously, and then added: "Your emperor will not know either, so there is no need to put on a smiling face in front of me all the time." .”

"I'm really fine..." Bai Xuehe was about to say something else, but when he looked up and saw Cang Hua's magnified serious face, he suddenly couldn't bear to be so perfunctory, so he explained kindly: "Okay, Xiao Hei, if I get angry , also frown and hit people, when you laugh, it’s because you really want to laugh.”

Cang Hua was stunned for a moment, then didn't ask any more questions, let go of the hands that were tightly wrapped around his body, Bai Xuehe laughed and got up and took a bite of the corn, and sat quietly beside him.

"When I was young, my mother and I worked as servants at General Liu's house. At that time, I was young and ignorant. I read a few books, and I was more literate than other servants. As a result, troubles arose, and Master Liu was always inexplicable. Hitting me, of course, is also because he doesn't know anything, and it takes a long time to recognize a few words."

This was not a childhood fun, it was even a bit tragic, it made Cang Hua silent for a long time, but Bai Xuehe still had a smile on his face, the morning sun hit his face, softening his pale and fragile features.

"What happened later?" Cang Hua realized that he thought he knew him well, but actually seldom listened to him talk about himself, so he continued to ask.

"I was beaten and felt very dissatisfied, but my mother didn't take it seriously." Bai Xuehe shook his head, peeled the corn and put it in his mouth, "She said I deserve it, we are servants, serving others, we have to show our dignity forever. Smiling, otherwise who would want to see our crying faces."

Just as Cang Hua was about to speak, he suddenly heard the sound of horseshoes nearby, he instantly suppressed his voice, and slammed the Snowy Crane behind him.

Bai Xuehe fell backwards without knowing why, and Bai Fu was also woken up. He looked forward with sleepy eyes, recognized it for a long time, and suddenly asked in surprise: "My lord? Why are you here?"

"My lord?" Cang Hua still stood in front of him, opened the curtain to look out, and saw Fu Jijue standing on the white horse anxiously in front of the carriage.

He was dressed in casual clothes, with disheveled hair, as if he hadn't rested for a long time, and the dark circles under his eyes were extremely heavy, as if he had been running all night.

Knowing that the vixen likes King Yan, and also knowing the old story of King Yan being under house arrest, Cang Hua's jealousy turned into some sympathy, he took the initiative to step aside, and said to Bai Xuehe: "The King of Yan is here, is he here to look for you?" , he seems to have something to tell you."

"Yeah." The inside responded softly, but there was no movement.

Cang Hua didn't know if he was wrong, but Bai Xuehe sighed slightly in an unusual way, and his smile disappeared for a moment.

This feeling made Cang Hua extremely uncomfortable, he raised his hand to block between the two.

"Snow Crane..." Fu Jijue reined in his horse and ran to the front of the carriage to stop in two steps. After hesitating for a while, he still stretched out his hand to Bai Xuehe.

That hand was very big, covered with calluses from years of martial arts practice, and there were many fine bruises on the palm. His head was hanging down all the time, his forehead was wrapped in a bandage, and there were faint blood marks inside, making him look very embarrassed.

Bai Xuehe was silent for a while, but still stretched out his hand, then jumped off the carriage, stood in front of him, and knelt down to salute after a while, Fu Jijue hurriedly raised his hand to help him up.

After the polite etiquette was over, the two of them were silent together.

It was clear that the weather was clear just now, but inexplicably, light snow began to fall. The snowflakes fell on the eyebrows and hair of the two of them, and when it was almost covered, Fu Jijue realized that he took off his cloak in a hurry and wanted to hand it to Bai Xuehe.

He took a step closer, only to realize that Cang Hua had taken a blanket and put it on Bai Xuehe's body, showing a gentle smile in embarrassment.

"What's the matter with the lord?" Bai Xuehe smiled, and looked up at the sky, "If I guessed correctly, the emperor is sending someone to look for you at this moment, and I am anxiously waiting for the lord to go back."

"Mei Qing." Bai Xuehe was taken aback by this unheard address for a long time. Fu Jijue didn't answer his words, but paused for a moment and said: "Some things, maybe you misunderstood..."

……

Bai Xuehe's guess was right. Fu Jiying was indeed standing in the study room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. An old official was kneeling in front of him. Xu Lin and Wei Lan stood beside him, bowing their heads in silence.

Suddenly it snowed heavily in Mobei, the grassland was as cold as iron, and a group of cattle and sheep froze to death. The Turkic people had no choice but to plunder the border town.

The Turks attacked the city, and the lives were devastated, but Xu Yan was dead, and the generals who had good friends with him asked for orders one after another, expressing that they wanted to be the masters and lead the expedition.

But Fu Jiying was still hesitating. These people used to flatter Xu Yan and were also Xu Yan's subordinates. They were familiar with the soldiers of Saibei. If they were chosen as the main generals, if they take advantage of the situation and raise the flag to avenge Xu Yan, those soldiers will follow suit.

More importantly, compared to Xu Yan or Xun Luo, these people are not generals who can lead troops to defend against the enemy.

The Turkic and Dazhou stalemate has been going on for a long time, and this time it is indeed fierce. For this reason, Fu Jiying did not plan out of nowhere. After Xu Yan died, he would let Xun Luo go to Mobei. come back again.

"Your Majesty, Saibei is urgent, and King Yan should be allowed to go." The Minister of the Ministry of War has hair all over his head. Although his eyes are timid, he doesn't care much. , looting money and food, raping and murdering women...Your Majesty, you should make a decision early!"

"Is there no other candidate?" Bai Xuehe only guessed five points right. Fu Jiying's eyes were not worried about the people in the territory, but the King Yan who was still afraid of holding the military power. He lowered his head and met the hesitant eyes of Shangshu Shangshu .

That look made him angry!Fu Jiying endured for a long time before he kicked up.

"Wei Lan." Fu Jiying rubbed his forehead, but still turned his head. Wei Lan hurriedly stepped and knelt down. He tapped the corner of the table impatiently and asked, "Where is King Yan now? Although Xu Yan is dead, there are still evils in the capital. How dare he leave the capital for so long?"

"The king of Yan has lost his internal strength, and this time he is going to fight, it's a bit of a struggle." Wei Lan replied in a low voice, "The family of Yan Wang's mansion said that the weather in winter is damp and cold, and his joints hurt so much that he can't sleep. I heard that there are hot springs on the outskirts of the city. To heal the wounds, I hurried away overnight."

"He masters military horses. Even if he is injured, he should send someone to report it." Fu Jiying replied with a cold smile, without any emotion.

"The king of Yan is also afraid that there will be urgent military affairs. The emperor needs to dispatch troops and generals, so he asked someone to send the general's seal." Wei Lan raised his hand, took out the military seal from his sleeve, and walked to Fu Jiying's side on his knees.

Fu Jiying took the military seal and rubbed it repeatedly with his icy fingertips. If King Yan handed over the military seal in order to retreat, then he paid too much.

After all, the Turkic invasion was really accidental. King Yan had been away from the battlefield for a long time, and his mansion had been stared at all the time. It was impossible for him to calculate the weather in northern Saibei, let alone when the cattle and sheep were frozen to death.

"Then I, wait for him to come back." Thinking of this, the hostility in Fu Jiying's eyes slightly dissipated, and the Minister of the Ministry of War breathed a sigh of relief, and retreated tremblingly.

"One more thing." Seeing the minister of the Ministry of War leaving, Wei Lan gently moved to his side and put a piece of paper on the table, "Jin Yiwei was executed, but King Yu still refused to admit it, insisting that he had no intention of treason. Just last night, he seemed to be unable to survive the sentence... he went crazy..."

At this moment in the dungeon, King Yu raised his head, revealing a pair of immature eyes with slightly rounded outlines. He was smirking, with saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth, and holding a piece of oil paper tightly with his fingertips.

Jin Yiwei didn't know what it was, but thought it was very important, so he hurriedly grabbed it, but there was no word on the oiled paper.

Inside the palace, the candles flickered under the windows, and a cluster of flames flickered on and off, making it impossible to clearly illuminate the words on the table.

Fu Jiying didn't answer for a long time. He raised his head, looked at the snow falling outside the window, and thought about it, not knowing where his thoughts were drifting.

At the bottom of his heart, he remembered that winter snowy night, when he was studying hard in the study, King Yu stole snacks from the small kitchen, and always brought them to him with a little maid.

He remembered that the little maid was called Yuan'er, and she was one of the most beauties in the palace with her pink and round cheeks, so he often said that he was very hungry and asked King Yu to get some more snacks.

In the middle of the night, the little man carved in pink and jade knocked on the door again, but the little maid was no longer behind him. Fu Jiying found out the next day that Yuan'er had moved to the East Palace and became a servant of the prince. She was wearing a heavy jade bracelet, but when she looked at herself, her eyes were slightly wet.

"The concubine mother said that if the prince becomes the emperor, I can't keep playing with him." The villain pinched his fingers and asked innocently: "But brother will definitely not, right? I really don't know. What's good."

At that time, he was passing by the Prince's Mansion, so Fu Jiying didn't dare to answer, but just dragged him and walked over quickly. Later, the child got something and forgot about this question.

"Let him go back to the mansion, don't ask the doctor, and don't let the queen mother know." Fu Jiying ordered in a low voice, "Send someone to strictly guard the gate of Prince Yu's mansion, whoever releases the news will be the first to die."

When the emperor can get everything, this is his answer.

……

There is a hot spring in the outskirts of the city, named Bailuchi.

There was fine snow in the sky, and the hot spring water was full of white air. The white snow crane sat by the pool in a middle coat, put a pair of snow-white feet in the pool, and swayed with the water waves.

Fu Jijue stood in the water, with a chessboard and Jiuguo between the two of them. This scene looked very elegant, except that there was backgammon on the chessboard.

After sitting for a while, Bai Xuehe got up to relieve himself, leaving only two unfamiliar people staring at each other.

"It's a bit hot." Seeing that Cang Hua was full of vigilance and kept silent, Fu Jijue took the initiative to say, "I took off my clothes, you don't mind."

Cang Hua naturally didn't mind. Fu Jijue took off his shirt and kept aside, continuing to study his backgammon very seriously.

Cang Hua didn't know how to play Go either, and his gaze was only on King Yan's back. He was shirtless and had countless scars on his wheat-colored skin. The scar in the middle was extremely deep, almost extending from his neck to his waistline. Running through the entire back, the scar didn't feel ugly, but rather shocking, which made him suddenly let go of his guard.

"I have been fighting all year round, and I have injuries on my body." Fu Jijue smiled gently, looking back at Cang Hua, "I made His Royal Highness Prince Ning laugh."

"My name is Cang Hua. Don't call me King Ning." Cang Hua was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Did your scars be from the battle?"

"Yes, it's ridiculous." Fu Jijue nodded, "That year I went to Tianshan, and the Turks besieged the city. I led the people to evacuate, and was trapped on the top of the mountain with a few broken guards. The Turks killed people in the city, and we But I couldn’t get in. I had no choice but to climb down the cliff and attack along the path. The cliff was sharp, and there happened to be a sharp stone. At that time, my body was covered in blood, my eyes were foggy and white, and I couldn’t see it for seven or eight days. It’s true, leaving such a scary scar.”

"Later when I went back to the capital, the people all told me that I sent a surprise soldier to rescue the city, and I almost lost half my life, but I didn't know that my fatal injury was caused by myself." It seems that no one asked him about the past battles for a long time, Fu Jijue said a little excitedly It was lengthy, and suddenly seeing Cang Hua being stunned for a while, he quickly stopped and said: "Sorry, I didn't pay attention, I talked too much."

"I really admire you." Cang Hua smiled back, showing half of his canine teeth, and patted him on the shoulder sincerely.

"Admiration?" Fu Jijue was stunned, with countless emotions in his eyes, and what he said later was extremely sincere, "If we meet soon, maybe we can still be close friends."

Cang Hua nodded, not noticing the look in his eyes, and asked curiously, "Is there anything thrilling on the battlefield!"

"It's all old stuff, I might not remember clearly." Fu Jijue held the chess piece excitedly, and watched the board slide with his head down. "There is a mountain in Mobei, which is steaming all the year round. Some people call it Flame Mountain..."

Cang Hua was listening intently, and after a while, Bai Xuehe came and sat beside the two of them leisurely, waiting for Fu Jijue to move the chess piece while talking, and only after the voice fell silent, he said quietly: "My lord, you moved my chess piece."

Fu Jijue was taken aback for a moment, only to realize that he had unknowingly played Bai Xuehe's black chess while talking. At this moment, the chess game had changed drastically, and he unknowingly set it up as an endgame.

"I have been locked up in the mansion for nearly three years, and I always play chess alone, which has become a habit. I have studied this game for a long time." Fu Jijue smiled shyly, his eyes were gentle, as pure as a clear spring in his mouth, and he was still concentrating Staring at his endgame, "It's been a long time since I had any contact with relatives and friends, and I forgot for a while, but I can actually play chess with others."

"My lord went out of the city on purpose, maybe it's because no one is playing chess with me." Bai Xuehe smiled, handed a piece of sweet cake to his mouth, and said while chewing: "If my lord has nothing else to do, I still have to continue on my way." .”

This sentence was a bit disappointing, not at all like Bai Xuehe's style.

"I have something to say..." Fu Jijue was stunned, hesitation flashed in his elegant and gentle eyes, and finally said softly: "Mei Qing, you left the capital on purpose because you thought I was the one who provoked Xu Yan to rebel, and deliberately Do you want to take over the military power? Or do you want to take me for the emperor and take me to Dali Temple."

After saying this, he let out a sigh of relief, calmly put down the chess piece at his fingertips, it seems that this endgame that he has been worrying about for a long time is still unsolvable in the end.

Cang Hua was taken aback for a moment, but Bai Xuehe didn't reply, and there was still a smile on his face.

"Xu Yan rebelled because I went to investigate the Liu Mansion and the mine accident. It was the pot of orchids that first told me to investigate the mine accident. If Mr. Ruan told me on his deathbed, I would naturally believe it." Bai Xuehe lowered his eyes and smiled. Ying, "But I was still a little bit strange at the time. Why did the emperor think of investigating the mine accident? Who told him? There was also the corpse that appeared inexplicably in the back of the Liufu, and Ruan Jin died in the prison for no reason. I just wanted to cooperate with him." It’s like acting from a script, don’t you think so?”

"I'm under house arrest in the capital, and it's impossible for me to step out of the house." Fu Jijue took a deep breath, pushed aside the chess pieces with trembling fingers, and asked tremblingly, "How could I kill someone?"

"The lord can't kill, but you can meet Yan." Bai Xuehe scratched his head with a smile, but his expression was a little sad, "Just tell her, the lord, promise to take her to find your husband, and she can go no matter what happens."

Now, Fu Jijue was completely silent, Cang Hua was a little surprised, and looked at him in disbelief.

"I admit it." After a while, Fu Jijue replied in a deep voice, "I led people to rescue Xu Gao and asked him to force Xu Yan to rebel. But you followed the trend and stopped Xun Luo in time, giving me this opportunity. "

Although he knew that he would admit it, Bai Xuehe still paused, and managed to maintain a smile.

"Because you were the one who revived me when I was in the mansion." Fu Jijue looked into his eyes, "You can go to great lengths to let me be free, endure slander and bullying, why did I only do one last thing, to Suspected by you."

"My lord has treated me with such kindness as a mountain, so I am willing to do my best, and I am willing to be beaten and scolded. I am a villain, and it doesn't matter. That's why I went to find Xun Luo." Bai Xuehe smiled and pushed away the plate in front of him. In a predicament, the fundus of the eyes was slightly red, but the tone was still flat, "But I don't want to be trapped by the pain relief ointment anymore. If the prince has the military power, can't he give me a way to survive?"

In the last sentence, he spoke with some emotion. This different tone made Fu Jijue's heart a little sour. He lowered his head and tried to move his mouth, but he didn't make a sound.

"I asked you to re-infect the pain reliever ointment? What else?" After all, Fu Jijue looked up with scars all over his body, as if he was suppressed and breathless, "Is there still Lan Ziqing's death, and the mine accident? Or in other words, from the very beginning, I was the one who directed the fight between the deposed prince and the emperor, and after all these years, directed this good show?"

"I don't know." Bai Xuehe closed his mouth, suddenly flustered.

"Maybe it's hard for you to believe." Fu Jijue shook his head, got up from the hot spring water, put on his coat, and was about to leave a little disappointed, "But you have to know that the reason why Xu Yan rebelled was because Xu Gao found him The weapons hidden in the suburbs of Beijing, if I still have a plan, why should I hand over all the weapons."

Bai Xuehe didn't seem to have thought of this, he didn't answer, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"If you want to leave, I won't stop you, just tell me the news."

"Even if you doubt it, I still have to finish this game of chess, and I will definitely find a way to get rid of Xitong ointment." Before leaving the door, he turned his head a little unbearably, "I will send it to you. "