Xiao Qinghuan

One month later, the frontier camp.

The climate in the border town is dry, and the weather is cooler in the morning than in the Central Plains. However, just after the beginning of autumn, there will be chills in the morning and evening.

Xie Jiajun's military tents have been covered with cotton blankets, and the daily patrols in the past have become once in the morning and evening.

The area of ​​the foreigners is barren, and there will be a shortage of food every year, so during the period from autumn to next winter, the border towns will often be harassed by small groups of foreign troops.They didn't stay for a long time. Two or three hundred horses sneaked into the territory of Dachu at night. Most of them picked a village at random to plunder and left, and they wouldn't drag it until dawn.

Most of the young and middle-aged men who came to plunder had practiced kung fu on horses since they were young. The guards in the village were hard to resist, and the messengers and frontier defenders were often too late, so the people who invaded were miserable.

After Xie Yongming was stationed at the frontier, he divided the Xie family army into several parts. Except for the soldiers who had to stay in the camp anyway, the remaining vanguard army was organized into several teams and patrolled the villages around the border town every day. It can be solved.

Xie Yongming is only [-] years old this year, but his body is still very strong, and he is still used to staying in the military camp on weekdays, with the style of a soldier.

Xie Yu followed Xie Yongming's temperament, and would personally lead a team out to inspect the border town every day to ensure that there was nothing wrong with the border.

At three o'clock in the day, Xie Yu returned to the camp from outside, but saw a carriage parked far in front of the camp, and the patterns on it looked like Xie Yao's.

Xie Yao is the eldest daughter of the Xie family, two years older than Xie Yu, she moved to the border town with Xie Yongming when she was a child, and suffered a lot from eating and sleeping in the open.Later, Xie Yongming felt sorry for his daughter, and couldn't bear to marry her in a place beyond the reach of the capital, so he found an honest and responsible lieutenant general and stayed with him.

Although Xie Yao behaves differently from those boudoir girls in Beijing, but she knows how to measure, she doesn't often come to the military camp, and she doesn't know what happened today.

Horses are not allowed in the camp, even if Xie Yongming came in person.

Xie Yu stopped his horse at the door, threw the reins to the guard at the door, and asked, "My eldest sister is here?"

"Yes." The soldier nodded, "Missy came this morning, and she is waiting for you, General, in the marshal's tent."

"Wait for me?" Xie Yu felt that Monk Zhang Er was confused, and walked in while talking to himself: "...what's the matter?"

Xie Yongming's tent was in the center of the barracks, and there were two guards standing at the door. When Xie Yu opened the thick cotton curtain and entered, Xie Yao was talking to Xie Yongming in a low voice.

When the two of them saw Xie Yu enter the door, they turned their backs and looked at him at the same time.

Xie Yu walked over to salute honestly: "Father, elder sister."

"En." Xie Yongming nodded: "Sit down."

Xie Yu sat next to Xie Yao as she said, and then turned her head to talk to her: "Why is elder sister here today? The barracks is very windy and sandy, which is not good for my little nephew."

"It's not good, none of our Xie family's children are afraid of the battlefield." Xie Yao put his hand on his lower abdomen, stroked it gently twice, and smiled: "Father asked me to come here."

Xie Yao wore a black fairy dress today, maybe it was because she was just pregnant, but she looked very soft.

Xie Yu grew up with her elder sister from a young age, so she naturally felt sorry for her, and could not help complaining: "Father has something to tell me to go for a trip, why bother to go all the way to tell elder sister to make a fuss."

Xie Yongming glared at him upon hearing this.

General Xie's prestige was so strong that even Xie Yu couldn't help being frightened, so he quickly shut up and didn't dare to speak.

Xie Yongming coughed lightly, picked up a book that was sealed with silk from the table, folded it, and threw it into Xie Yu's arms: "Open it and have a look."

The book was folded in indigo silk, and there were still traces of dried wax on the upper and lower folds.

Xie Yu was very familiar with this kind of book—it came from the capital.

The frontier is too far away from the capital, and it takes a long distance to send a message, so that there are often rainy days when you need to travel.Therefore, the book for transmission will be wrapped in silk cloth, and then delivered in a narrow box.The wax marks are to ensure that the book has not been opened and read on the road.

Now that Xie Yu is holding the seal, the outer hard shell and the wax block on the seal have disappeared, obviously Xie Yongming has already opened it and looked at it.

This is not a serious order, and it can even be said to be quite mild compared to the deployment of troops.

This is a congratulatory booklet, which states the birthday of His Royal Highness Dongyue Sixteenth and Sixth Highness, in honor of Ning Zongyuan, so a grand banquet will be held for three days, so foreign officials above the third rank and the capital The princes of the five surrounding provinces will enter Beijing at that time.

After Xie Yu finished reading, he folded the book and handed it to Xie Yao, and looked back at Xie Yongming, puzzled, and said, "Father, what's going on, foreigners often invade in autumn and winter, so the Xie family's reports are all in the beginning." In the spring, we will go back to Beijing together with the Longevity Festival, why did you send us the booklet for celebrating the birthday this time?"

Xie Yao also finished reading the folded book, folded it neatly and put it beside her, and said softly, "Does father think there is something strange?"

Xie Yongming sighed: "It's not that strange, it's just that the situation in Beijing is unclear, so I can't help but think too much as a father."

"I don't think so." Xie Yao said, "Although I don't know what's going on there, but I think no one will think of Xie Jiajun."

"Elder Sister is right." Xie Yu got up and folded the book back to Xie Yongming: "The Xie family has never been involved in the party and government, and they don't walk around with their colleagues every year when they return to Beijing to report on their duties. In addition, the Xie family's army guards the frontier. No matter which Highness succeeds the Great Reign in the future, it will still be useful. The two Highnesses are not young, so you should be able to figure this out."

Xie Yongming asked: "So, what does my son think about this?"

Xie Jiajun will be handed over to Xie Yu sooner or later. In addition to the art of war and martial arts, Xie Yongming will also consciously or unintentionally cultivate his ability to deal with people in the past few years. Therefore, Xie Yu is not surprised. After thinking for a while, he said: "Maybe it's just two Your Highness has just supervised the country, so he didn't know the way to do it, so he sent the books to the frontier. I heard that Mr. Jiang inspected the two rivers, but he was not in the capital. And Mr. Shu is old, and it is inevitable that he would come to the cabinet. neglected."

Xie Yaoxiu frowned slightly, sitting at the side silently.

Xie Yongming saw that her expression was different, and asked, "Does Yao'er feel that there is something wrong?"

Xu Shi's daughter's mind has always been delicate, and she always feels uneasy, but there is no sign of it after thinking about it.

The Xie family never felt that their daughter was born to be a short man, so Xie Yao had always studied and practiced martial arts with Xie Yu when they were young, and their vision was no worse than Xie Yu's.But she thought about this matter carefully, but she didn't think there was anything wrong with what Xie Yu said.

"It's nothing, father." Xie Yao said quickly: "I just feel uneasy, but if I talk about the reason, I don't know myself."

Xie Yu, who was on the side, laughed and said, "I've heard people say that women during pregnancy are the most unstable. It's common to be depressed. Eldest sister, please be at ease."

"You know." Xie Yao covered her lips and smiled: "I don't see you getting married early."

"Don't worry." Xie Yu coughed lightly: "I haven't met the right one yet."

The two of them were chatting here, and Xie Yongming, who was seated above, had already written a reply letter to the capital.

The Xie family has never left the frontier in autumn and winter, and it has been a practice for decades.Xie Yongming stated this matter in the memorandum of the previous memorial, and then politely pleaded guilty before finishing.

Xie Yongming originally wanted to say that he could meet the Holy Spirit again on the next year's Longevity Day to confess his crimes, but the pen hung on the paper and stopped, and finally put it down.

——Who knows which emperor will be on the dragon chair at the Wanshou Festival next year.

Xie Yongming put the reply envelope in a narrow box and put it in the corner of the desk, and handed it to the messenger officer for a while to take back to the border town.

He looked at the pair of children who were talking and laughing, and suddenly remembered something else: "How is Jue'er?"

When Xie Jue was mentioned, the joy on the faces of Xie Yu and Xie Yao's sisters and brothers faded by coincidence, and Xie Yao turned his face away and wiped the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief.

"Xie Jue is in Pingjiang." Xie Yu was not like Xie Yao, but he couldn't help but sighed: "I think nothing will happen if I stay with Jiang Xiaohan."

Xie Yongming has grown older in recent years, and his admiration has grown deeper. He often misses Xie Jue in this frontier camp.It's just that after all, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, Xie Jue's responsibility for the Xie family's army to be at ease today depends on Xie Jue alone.

Xie Yongming sighed: "Mingyuan's child has a tough heart, and he is also sophisticated and tactful in dealing with others. I think he will mention Jue'er."

"...It's just that Jiang Mingyuan's identity is different from other people's after all, and sometimes he acts too neatly. I always worry that Xie Jue has been with him for a long time. If he doesn't learn from the good ones, he will learn too much." Xie Yu worried: "Do you want Write a letter to mention a few words about my younger brother."

What he said was very euphemistic, and he almost said that Xie Jue and Jiang Xiaohan had been together for a long time, and he led him to spoil him, so that he lost his character.

If it wasn't for Xie Liuyi's reason, Xie Yu actually didn't like Jiang Xiaohan's behavior style.In his view, a manly man should stand upright and open-minded. Although the affairs of the court are unfathomable, his heart grows in himself, and "speaking insincerely" is just an excuse.

It's just that he stayed in the frontier all year round, so he didn't have much chance to make friends with Jiang Xiaohan.

Xie Yu was naturally so happy, but she was always worried about Xie Jue who was in Beijing.

Strictly counting, Jiang Xiaohan's teacher Xie Liuyi should be the same generation as Xie Yongming.It's just that Jiang Xiaohan is still young, and Xie Jue is often the same age, and in the end they are all different.

Xie Yongming has had more food for decades than Xie Yu, so he sees people differently, he shook his head: "Mingyuan knows it well. Besides, Jue'er has been in Beijing all these years thanks to Mingyuan's care, otherwise, with his Temper, it's time to cause trouble."

However, Xie Jue, who was being worried by Xie's family at this time, was playing cats and dogs in Pingjiang Mansion to make people hate him.

Since Wei Shen left, Xie Jue was completely free.Jiang Xiaohan stayed in the city on weekdays and didn't go anywhere, and having a Jiang Ying by his side was enough for him, Xie Jue suddenly felt like he was taking a bath, and went to Ren Pingsheng's pharmacy all day long.

He was biting a long grass stalk, squatting on the steps of the back door of the medicine shop to tease the ants, when he heard the wooden door behind him creak.

He turned around when he heard the sound, but saw Cheng Yuan looking at him helplessly.

"Xie, General, come in."