Haiyan

Two tall black horses were parked at the gate of the palace.

Standing in front of the horse were two young men who looked a little dusty. One was dressed in a black gown, with a dark face, a strong figure, a square face, and piercing eyes, very much like Zhang Fei on the stage carrying a snake spear. .

The other one was wearing a brocade green shirt, with a tall figure, fair complexion, elegant and handsome demeanor, very different from the companions around him.

The Chang Shi who came to meet them smiled very politely at the two of them: "Your Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time."

Liang Xiao threw the reins in his hand and asked in a loud voice that matched his image, "Have you guys already started?"

Chang Shi: "It's only a stick of incense, so it doesn't matter...Although today is a palace banquet to reward King Wulie's army, but all the important officials who came here, there are no idlers and so on. Two For this trek, His Majesty has already made arrangements for the two of you... Please, please."

On the way, Liang Xiao leaned his big body towards the person who didn't say a word all the way, and said in a low voice, "I'll see the emperor in a while, and you'll be that early bird, so I won't go to join in the fun."

"?"

Liang Xiao snorted, looked at him with disgust, and said, "It's not that you don't know that I'm stupid, even if it's just a congratulatory gift, there are so many people in the hall, if I get nervous again, I will definitely have to go to their funeral ...It’s not a big deal to have offended the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but our Majesty entrusted me with this job, so you can’t just leave it in my hands, don’t you think?”

The person next to him glanced at him lightly, with a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, and said: "Since His Majesty personally told you, it is natural that you go, I am the one who came to join in the fun, it is not appropriate."

Liang Xiao was not happy when he heard this, and immediately glared at him, his big eyes were like a brass bell, and he said in a rough voice: "Li Su, do you still want to go back on the spot? Before you came, you clearly agreed to go all the way. Listen to me..."

Li Su: "When did I say such a thing?"

Liang Xiao: "..."

He didn't seem to have said anything like that.

It's just that before coming to the Eastern Han Dynasty, Li Su came to see him and said that he would come over too, to see if we could come together.

When Liang Xiao first saw Li Su, his jaw almost dropped to the ground in shock.

You know, it's really unreasonable for this second master Li, who has always been quiet and doesn't interact with others, to come to him in person suddenly.

Besides, he didn't have much contact with this person on weekdays.

It's a pity that he was so stupid, he just faltered for a long time, and forgot to ask him why he was going to the Eastern Han Dynasty. When he realized it again, the two of them were already on their way.

Along the way, Li Su cherished his words like gold and didn't talk much. Although Liang Xiao thought this person was a bit boring, he was also pure.

In fact, this was the third official meeting between him and Li Su. The first time was when we were both very young, maybe eight or nine years old, or ten years old, he didn't quite remember.

At that time, Li Su hadn't gone to Yebei to be a hostage. Once, the two of them surrounded the Haizhou assassins in the Gyeonggi Palace. Li Su's archery skills that pierced Yang with a hundred steps really surprised him.

At that time, the Gyeonggi Palace was full of brats who would only fight with each other with wooden sticks all day long. Liang Xiao thought that he was a true master of martial arts from his adoptive father Liang Guoying. But he didn't have the arrogance to be superior to others. It wasn't until he met Li Su that time that he realized that he was really different from them.

At that time, Li Su fully demonstrated his good character of "not taking anyone seriously".

Liang Xiao, who was less than ten years old at the time, originally wanted to be friends with Li Su, but when he saw that the child was leaving, he didn't even look at him, said "nothing special" and walked away lightly, leaving him in vain. Pulling a big bow and standing at the entrance of the hall, a little embarrassed.

When I saw Li Su for the second time, he had just returned from Yebei.

The young man stood at the forefront of the victorious army with injuries all over his body to receive the highest reward from the empire. The occasion should have been exciting and exciting, but in the eyes of Liang Xiao, who was only 14 years old at the time, this young man who was about his size In his eyes, apart from indifference and emptiness, there was also a trace of almost imperceptible despair and murderous intent.

He was stabbed by Li Su's eyes on the spot, but he still hasn't figured out what happened, so he simply didn't take it to heart later.

I have heard that Li Su seldom goes out these years. Rao His Majesty gave him a modest official position ten years ago, and he has hardly been seen in the court, but only occasionally from the mouth of the thirteenth prince Zhao Yuxuan. After one or two Li Su's names, Liang Xiao didn't have much contact with the others.

But fortunately, Li Su looks cold and indifferent, but in fact he is quite easy to talk to. Li Su responded to everything he said along the way, so he subconsciously pushed Li Su out to do this errand for him. It was also pushed out by foster father Liang Guoying as a backstop, but Li Su, who was easy to talk to, would not agree.

In the Zijin Palace, Eunuch Li had just finished reading the imperial decree in recognition of the blood alliance guards. Wei Shuyou and a group of lieutenants thanked them for their kindness, and Liang Xiao and Li Su walked in.

The moment Wei Shuyou raised her head, she met Li Su's gaze.

The former nodded very politely, but the latter couldn't help but move in his heart, but he quickly covered it up. In addition, Wei Shuyou didn't notice the mess around him for a while.

"Go and see where Shang Yu has gone, and call him back. Your Majesty will find out later, and I have to explain for a long time." Wei Shuyou ordered to Wei Qing in a suppressed voice.

At the moment Liu Fei was talking to the envoy from the Western Han Dynasty in the main hall, Wei Shuyou didn't care.

After Wei Qing went out, Wei Shuyou sat up straight and picked up the glass to drink.

However, just as he brought the rim of the cup to his lips, he seemed to have thought of something, his hands paused slightly, and then a smile flashed in his eyes, he put the cup down, changed to a cup of hot tea and drank it.

After the two envoys from the Western Han Dynasty, the black-faced man who looked very honest and reliable, presented the congratulatory gift to Liu Fei, he stammered some congratulatory words that were neither painful nor itchy, and his face was already swollen. flushed.

Liu Fei nodded to thank the Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty with a smile on his face, and asked the attendant to return the gift, and the matter was over.

Soon, singing and dancing started again, Wei Shuyou saw that among the officials who came to toast, King Chen also came over and was about to get involved, and immediately got a little dizzy, thinking that if this local tyrant mentioned the matter of Princess Anping to him, Does he refuse directly, or directly refuse?

Li Su sat at the back of Liang Xiao's right side and watched Wei Shuyou for a long while, but for a moment he didn't notice Liang Xiao who was restless in front of him, who was stealing his eyes from time to time for help.

"I'll go out for a while." Li Su stood up suddenly and said, but was pulled back by Liang Xiao, "Don't run around, this is not our Western Han Dynasty."

Li Su smiled lightly: "Can't you be in a hurry?"

Liang Xiao was taken aback, let go of his hand, gave him a sticky look, and said, "Then hurry up, or I'll be here alone, and if the emperor asks something later, I won't be able to handle it."

It was already dark outside at this time, the cool summer wind blowing towards his face with a little scent of sweet-scented osmanthus, lifted the corners of his clothes and patted them against his legs, making a soft sound in the silence of Wan Lai.

The patrolling guards used torches to illuminate the surroundings. Li Su stood quietly on the stone steps in a daze. A guarding eunuch knew his identity. He thought it must be the envoy from the neighboring country who felt that the hall was stuffy. He didn't come forward to ask more questions.

Li Su reached out his hand and took out a piece of old origami paper from his bosom. The origami paper was not big, and it was like a slap in the face when it was unfolded. The braids lined the whole person, and there was a mouthful of grass in his mouth, which seemed to be thrown.

The origami of the figurines is old, but clearly well preserved.

Looking at the marks on the edge, someone should have cut it out of a painting.

The person who cut the painting was very careful, and even the pearls that fell from the child's hair were taken off by him by outlining the edges with perfect precision.

Li Su looked at the little statue in a daze.

It's been ten years.

Not only Changsheng's ten years, but also Li Su's ten years.

He gently rubbed the painted child's face with the ball of his thumb, and the laughter and laughter of the past floated in his ears, as if it was yesterday, and he remembered it clearly.

In the past ten years, he has never given up on looking for Chang Sheng.

Like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The spies sent out by Rao brought a lot of false news. After raising his hopes again and again but getting disappointed, he still didn't give up.

Zhao Yuzhen once asked him: "If you haven't found it for so many years, if you still can't find it in the next half of your life, what should you do?"

"If you can't find it, keep looking until you find it," he said.

Zhao Yuxuan asked again: "The army was in chaos back then, what if he is no longer here?"

He said: "Then I will also find his bones, dig out his grave, and put it beside me to live with me."

No one knows how he got here for ten years.

Blame, guilt, anger...

If he had fought harder at that time and killed all the chasing Han troops, would everything have been different?

But fate will not give him a second chance.

At that time, after he was seriously injured and tried his best, he almost put himself in it, so why would he go to save Changsheng again.

Those memories of the past were like thousands of sharp knives, and the pain pierced his heart with blood.

He will never forget the way Chang Sheng looked at him when he was leaving for the last time.

Chang Sheng hated him, he knew, whether he was dead or alive, he hated him.

But he doesn't care, as long as he can be found, he can bear all the consequences.

Fortunately, Huangtian paid off. A month ago, he finally got another piece of reliable news.

When the spies unfolded the portrait of the child brought back from Sanganhe by King Wulie of the Eastern Han Dynasty for the first time in front of him, Li Su was so shocked that he almost fell off his chair.

It has been ten years, and the children of the past have not left a trace of their former appearance, except for the evil smile at the corner of their mouths.

Li Su was sure that if he hadn't seen the painting, he might not have recognized Chang Sheng at all, but because of that smile, he was sure that it was Chang Sheng.

Chang Sheng in the painting is wearing a simple and elegant gown and is walking a bird in the yard. The bird doesn't seem to pay much attention to him, but he just catches the bird so cheaply. His eyes are very similar to those that Li Su used to see when he was a child. It's just like that, it's just a lot lighter.

He remembered that Chang Sheng liked to wear brightly colored clothes, and he was always ostentatious, for fear that others would not know that he was a cannon.

But the person in the painting is clearly out of the dust and serious, and there is still a trace of smugness.

Li Su thought about it, and couldn't help but smile a little, but when he thought about it again, the pain in his eyes was about three points more.

Who can stay the same after going through something like that?

What's more, Chang Sheng was only nine years old at that time.

He didn't know what Changsheng went through that year to run to the battlefield of Sanganhe and was taken home by King Wulie at that time.

But he knew that all the people in Prince Wulie's mansion had treated him very well these years.

Such kindness has become the only comfort in his heart in the past ten years.

It also strengthened his determination to see him.

Because he knows-

If he seeks him, the origin arises; if he does not seek him, the fate ceases.

Not far from the side hall of the Zijin Palace, there is a huge pond, which is full of white lotus flowers. The lotus has a bitter smell, and it will disappear if it is covered by the scent of osmanthus.

Chang Sheng was squatting by the pond, holding his chin and watching the pair of little mandarin ducks flirting inside. He was watching enthusiastically, when suddenly there was a soft sound of footsteps coming from behind.

Chang Sheng thought it was a servant in the palace, so he didn't pay much attention to it at the moment, but after the footsteps stopped, the dark night covered the thin and tall shadow all over his head, which surprised him.

This is the imperial palace. If you are unlucky, you may meet a royal relative or empress. It's dark and windy, and there are two shameless mandarin ducks beside them who are humming, and he won't be able to get rid of it if he wants to.

Just as he was thinking about whether to sneak away while the man wasn't paying attention, the black shadow suddenly approached slowly.

Chang Sheng was taken aback, and quickly got up to run away, but after squatting for a long time, his legs became numb, and he couldn't stand still, so he couldn't help but groaned, and heard the black shadow shout: "Who are you?" !"