Chang Zuihou

Chang Zui Hou did not return all night.

Fang Hongfei looked at the food that had been cold all night, ordered it to be removed, and then took a few people on horseback, ready to go look for the owner who had not returned.

Although Li Xiao and Ye Piao's martial arts are strong, but there are many wild beasts in the mountains, if they encounter tigers or wolves, it will be very bad.

The only thing he regrets now is why he didn't decisively take someone to look for Li Xiao last night. Now, Fang Hongfei only hopes that his master will be safe and sound.

As soon as he led the people out for a certain distance, he saw two horses, one black and one white, walking away towards him from a distance.

Sitting immediately were the disheveled Chang Zuihou and the yawning Ye Piao.

"My subordinates welcome Lord Hou." Fang Hongfei saw Li Xiao's figure, immediately got off his horse, galloped to the side of the road and knelt down.

Li Xiao's expression didn't look good, her crown hairpin and clothes were not neat, as did Ye Piao beside her.

He glanced wearily at Fang Hongfei who was kneeling beside the road, and lazily waved his wide sleeves, "Get up, why are you here?"

"This subordinate saw that Master Hou hadn't returned all night, so he rashly brought people over to meet him."

Fang Hongfei stepped forward to hold the rein for Li Xiao, seeing that he was safe and sound, he finally let go of his heart.

Li Xiao sat on the horse, smiled at Ye Piao, and sighed softly, "Before I knew it, you and I were so greedy for a long time that we forgot our way back."

Ye Piao felt deeply sleepy, nodded, and urged the horse to go fast, "Thanks to Lord Marquis, I was really exhausted last night, I must sleep well before I go back later."

He said these words casually, but Fang Hongfei was shocked when he heard them.

Li Xiao and Ye Piao were disheveled and didn't return all night. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell what happened at a glance.

Fang Hongfei also saw it, but he just pretended not to know it, but what Ye Piao said that sounded like a joke finally hurt his heart deeply.

Hearing Ye Piao's banter, Li Xiao laughed lightly, and then turned his gaze to Fang Hongfei who was leading the horse for him.

He stared indifferently at the man who had been by his side since he was a child, and suddenly felt that the man had become so obtrusive at some point.

"Hongfei, go back to the manor first, and have someone quickly prepare breakfast and hot water for Brother Ye and me."

"Yes, Lord Hou."

Fang Hongfei let go of Wu Yun's reins expressionlessly, saluted Li Xiao, and stepped back on his horse.

He whipped the horse and hurried, and soon disappeared from Li Xiao's sight.

In fact, Chang Zui Hou Li Xiao is not just greedy for pleasure and pleasure as rumored by the outside world.

At least, recently Ye Piao found that Chang Zuihou started to get busy.

Ye Piao heard Li Xiao getting up quietly in the middle of the night or early in the morning, as if something happened in the village and he had to deal with it himself.

It is very cold on Lingyun Peak, and Wuzui Mountain Villa is on the top of the mountain. When the cold wind blows, it will be bitingly cold.

Even if I have deep inner strength, I don't want to climb out of the warm blanket in the coldest time of the night or early morning.

But the pampered Chang Zuihou was able to turn over and get up immediately after hearing a soft knock on the door, without any hesitation.

A deposed prince, a sinner who was confined to a small world, how could he have so many things to do?

Ye Piao always thought about the beginning in a daze, but was too sleepy to think about it.

Before you know it, late autumn has arrived.

The maple leaves all over the mountain turned red, burning the entire Lingyun Peak like a sea of ​​fire.

Ye Piao looked at the distant scenery, and began to yearn for his life of wandering all over the world in his heart.

Being free is the best thing in the world.

Ye Piao sighed with emotion, a few maple leaves were blown down by the wind, and he reached out to catch them in his palm.

Another gust of wind blew away the maple leaf in his palm and floated into the distance.

Ye Piao looked melancholy at the flying maple leaves, thinking of the upcoming martial arts conference.

The martial arts conference in this world is about to begin, and I don't know if it will be lively or not.Perhaps, without myself, it is still lively.

After Li Xiao met a few men who took care of the house's housekeeping in the study, his face was filled with joy, and as soon as he left the house, he asked where Ye Piao was.

He left the villa and came to the edge of the cliff, and sure enough, he saw a tall and straight figure under the tree.

"Brother Ye, it's windy between the cliffs, what are you doing here?"

"just looking around."

Ye Piao smiled lightly, turned around and saw Chang Zuihou who seemed to be in a good mood.

Li Xiao walked to Ye Piao's side with his hands behind his back, and looked into the distance with deep eyes.

"I know what you're thinking?"

"You know?" Ye Piao squinted at Chang Zuihou, who was showing a little arrogance. After all, it was this person who made him feel depressed, and this person who made him feel happy.

"Wandering Sword Leaf, the hero who is famous all over the world, who is sure to stand out at every martial arts conference, but he can't make it this year, isn't it depressing?"

Li Xiao was even more proud to see that the other party looked like he had nothing to do with him.

He turned his head and smiled, somewhat resolutely and somewhat jokingly, but Ye Piao just clasped his hands and sighed, and said to him, "You are right, but not all right. It is regrettable not to be able to make it to the martial arts conference, but what is even more regrettable is It's a pity to see you confessing your mistakes to the heroes of the world at the martial arts conference. It's a pity. I really want to see people like you bowing their heads obediently."

"I bow my head obediently, haven't you seen it many times?"

Li Xiao raised her head and smiled, an ambiguous corner of her eyes fell on Ye Piao's face.

"You pretended to show me, don't think I really don't know." Ye Piao snorted coldly, but his expression was a little more relieved.

He reached out and touched the side of Li Xiao's neck, and then patted his face lightly.

"Master Hou, you still owe me fifty whips."

Li Xiao grabbed Ye Piao's hand that was caressing her face, and the ambiguous look in her eyes became more intense.

He looked at Ye Piao aggressively with such eyes, and entangled Ye Piao.

"Then let me owe it first, and when you go elsewhere in the future, just remember that Chang Zuihou still owes you."

Ye Piao was a little surprised by Li Xiao's almost paranoid reaction, but he soon understood.

He withdrew his hand and laughed heartily, "Do you think I'm a villain who doesn't keep his promise? Ye Piao said that he would stay by Chang Zuihou's side in this life, so he would never break his promise."

"If you stay with Chang Zuihou unhappy, Chang Zuihou will also be unhappy."

Li Xiao looked sideways at the vast world in front of him, smiled and let go of Ye Piao's hand, "Ye Piao, you should be floating between the sky and the earth, not trapped on top of a mountain."

"What, you want to drive me away? Do you want to stop providing me with free room and board?"

Ye Piao knew what Li Xiao was thinking, but pretended not to know, he stepped forward and grabbed Li Xiao's waist, and caressed her soft lips irregularly, "Or, do you want to Save your kiss for someone else?"

Li Xiao said nothing, but there was a slight strangeness in the bright eyes, as if there was a hint of cunning mixed in.

"I don't agree!" Ye Piao suddenly pulled Li Xiao over and kissed Li Xiao fiercely on the lips.

At this time, Fang Hongfei, the manager of Wuzui Villa, looked at the two hugging each other at the gate of the villa with a lonely face, and slowly turned around.

"Master Hou, what orders do you have for your subordinates?"

It was getting late, Fang Hongfei had already gone back to the house to rest, but suddenly he heard the servant invite him to Chang Zuihou's study, saying that Lord Hou wanted to see him.

It had been a long time since he had been alone with Chang Zuihou, and Fang Hongfei felt anxious and complicated while getting dressed.

He knew what Chang Zuihou asked him to do, something he didn't want to happen but couldn't prevent.

"Come on, sit down."

Li Xiao was wearing a middle coat embroidered with silver silk, and was sitting at the desk with only his outer robe on. The dim oil lamp reflected his pale face, which was indescribably cold.

Fang Hongfei nodded, sat aside politely, raised his hand and asked, "I don't know what orders the Lord Hou has at such a late hour."

Li Xiao pushed away the chair and walked to Fang Hongfei's side, and said with a smile: "Of course it's for our big event. The matter is imminent. I don't want Ye Piao to know about it. It took him so much effort to get him drunk so that I have the opportunity to have a good time with you." talk."

Fang Hongfei stood up, lowered his voice and said to Li Xiao: "Don't worry, Lord Hou, Prime Minister Sui, General Liu, General Qin, General Chen, and Ding Guogong, the subordinates have already taken care of themselves. As soon as the emperor arrives in Changzhou, they will take care of you." Plan to act. Once the emperor is taken down, all the adults will cooperate internally and externally to rebel. At that time, the subordinates will also lead the white water army that has been trained for a long time to raid the capital and capture the capital for you."

"As expected of Manager Fang, as long as I entrust the matter to you, the Marquis will be at ease. The three generals Liu, Qin, and Chen were my old troops during the expedition to Chamu, and the daughter of Prime Minister Sui wanted to marry me wholeheartedly. The Marquis has promised him that if I ascend the throne, I will marry his daughter as the queen, and Duke Ding is an old friend of the Marquis since he was a child... Haha... After the matter is done, each will be rewarded, no problem. Of course, the first achievement is still yours, Hongfei."

Li Xiao nodded in satisfaction, tugged at the robe that had slipped down, and asked, "By the way, my nephew of the emperor is definitely staying in General Qin's mansion for this southern tour, are you sure it won't change?"

"Yes, General Qin has sent a message to his subordinates that some eunuchs in the palace have already gone to inspect his mansion first. The emperor will definitely live there then."

"That's good." Li Xiao sneered, his eyes were terribly fixed.

This time, he not only wants to regain the long-lost freedom, but also regains the high throne.

When he was King Ning, he had intended to conspire against him, but it was a pity that his clever brother had discovered the plan as soon as it took shape, so he deprived himself of his title and conferred him the title of Marquis of Gezi , ordered to be imprisoned on Lingyun Peak in Baishui Town.

But now, with the death of his wise and mighty emperor brother, the new emperor is immature and innocent, how can Li Xiao not be ambitious again?

These seven years, whether it is long or short, are enough to make a person's ambition grow again.

Fang Hongfei cautiously raised his head to glance at Li Xiao, stood still with his hands down, not daring to say much.

He has followed Li Xiao since he was a child, watching his ups and downs, and knows that this lofty prince, under his gentle and calm appearance, has an ambitious heart that never calms down.

It's a pity that he is not the one who can let Li Xiao express his heart and soul.

Li Xiao walked behind the silent Fang Hongfei, and patted his shoulder lightly, with an unusually gentle voice.

"Hongfei, you have worked hard these years, and I will definitely reward you heavily after you are done."

When Fang Hongfei heard this, he immediately knelt down and said, "This subordinate is willing to go through fire and water for Lord Hou, and he will do whatever he wants, so how dare he covet something!"

"Haha... Hongfei, I know that you are not greedy for fame and fortune. Benhou knows very well how you treat Benhou. Usually, Benhou treats you a little harshly, so I hope you don't take it to heart. After the world is settled, Benhou I will definitely make up for the grievances you have suffered with me all these years." After finishing speaking, Li Xiao bent down and helped Fang Hongfei up.

Fang Hongfei looked at Li Xiao flattered, and wanted to say a thousand words to him in his heart, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them helplessly.

compensate?It's not just high-ranking officials and generous salaries, gold, silver and jewelry.

But these, he doesn't want at all.

What he wants may never be available.

Li Xiao didn't seem to see the entangled emotions in Fang Hongfei's eyes towards him. He sighed softly and smiled, and said to Fang Hongfei earnestly: "I will entrust everything to you...Okay, I have to go back to him Now, if Ye Piao wakes up later and sees that I'm not around, he'll ask questions again, so you should go to bed earlier."

When Fang Hongfei heard what he said, his eyes darkened.

He understood that all his hopes should have been wiped out as early as the moment Chang Zuihou met Ye Piao, but he was still delusional, thinking that Li Xiao could even give him a little love.

Fang Hongfei finally left Li Xiao's study in a gloomy manner. He felt his footsteps were heavier than ever, and he also felt his heart ache beyond words.

The climate on the mountain is always colder than that on the downhill. The downhill is just the breath of early winter, with light snow falling from time to time, but the snow on Lingyun Peak has already accumulated thickly.

Ye Piao and Li Xiao stayed in the warm house with a strong fire, but they didn't think it was too cold, but they were more depressed and depressed. They couldn't go to the mountains, and the snow was so heavy. It will bury people; going down the mountain is also a troublesome thing, and Ye Piao thought that Li Xiao would not agree easily, so he just gave up.

The two drank the warm wine and chatted without saying a word, talking about Jianghu, the imperial court, the past, martial arts, everything.

In Li Xiao's hand, he held a luminous cup collected by his subordinates from outside the day before yesterday. The body of the cup showed the color of jasper, and it would fluoresce when the surrounding light dimmed.

Ye Piao is not interested in this kind of curio, he is only interested in the wine in the cup.

I heard that the pot of drunken flowers that I drink today is a specialty of Luohuaxi, thousands of miles away. It takes 30 years of deep storage to make a good wine, and it is famous all over the world for the high price of one or two cups.

"Master Hou, you just look at the glass, the wine is cold, and it will be warm again in a while."

Ye Piao savored the mellow fragrance of drunken flowers, but saw that the wine in Li Xiao's cup was still unmoved.

Li Xiao looked up at Ye Piao and smiled faintly, then took a sip of the wine, and said in a low voice: "Brother Ye, you have heard that Changzhou Prefecture produces a kind of cold snow wine every winter, and this wine uses Brewed from the snow between the stamens, it is fresh and delicious, refreshing. It is only produced once a year, and each time is only one jar. It is usually kept privately by the government and used for tribute, but the common people can’t see it.”

Ye Piao is good at wine, but he has never heard of such good wine in Changzhou.

Changzhou Prefecture is located at the mouth of the sea in the south of the Qinglong River. It is known for its beautiful scenery. Ye Piao usually goes there several times a year to go boating with friends from the rivers and lakes there, enjoy the tide and watch the moon.

"Since it's the private wine of the government, how do you want to get it?"

He glanced at Li Xiao, and knew that the other party, like himself, must be planning on Han Xuejiu.

"Tonight, you and I will take advantage of the snow to go to Changzhou Mansion to taste the Hanxue wine in person, so as to relax. With such an arrangement, Brother Ye, what do you think?" Li Xiao casually continued to play with the luminous cup, gently There was a sly look in his eyes.

Ye Piao was a little stunned by Li Xiao's plan. After all, the other party was the convicted prince who was banned in Baishui Town by imperial decree. How could he dare to hide the truth so easily and go elsewhere?

"Aren't you joking? Are you afraid that the Holy Majesty will send someone to question you when he finds out that your uncle has escaped against the order?"

"It's not like I'm running away. After drinking, we'll just come back. In less than half a month, I've arranged a substitute in the village, and I promise no one will know about it." Li Xiao laughed.

He looked at Ye Piao with a bit of drunkenness, and the smile on his face became more gentle.

After tasting the cold snow wine, you and I will go straight into the palace. At that time, I want you to watch me ascend the throne, and let the world know that the famous sword leaf hero is also on the side of this marquis.

Ye Piao, I lied to you this time, promising you a lifetime of wealth and glory, you won't blame me, will you?

A little melancholy flashed into Li Xiao's eyes, Ye Piao could see clearly, he spun the cup, stretched out his hand and shook the back of Li Xiao's hand heavily, although he didn't say a word, but the emotion he wanted to convey to the other party was already in his heart It goes without saying.

Li Xiao suddenly let out a long laugh, got up while he was drunk, pulled out the Piaoling sword on Ye Piao's waist with his backhand, and danced with chaotic steps.

"Five-flowered horses, thousands of gold, Hu'er will be exchanged for fine wine..." He drank the wine in the glass, threw the glass aside, turned his waist, and pulled out a sword flower obliquely. Suddenly, a candle was ignited.

"Sell the eternal sorrow with me!"

Ye Piao raised her eyes and smiled, and raised her glass to Li Xiao.

"Chang Zui Hou, don't worry, Wan Gu worry, I have Ye to accompany you to sell."

Li Xiaozui looked at him, leaning on the sword on the ground, raised his eyebrows, slightly curved the corners of his mouth, his handsome face was full of happiness.

Tonight's Wuzui Mountain Villa is surprisingly quiet, and the sound of the wind blowing the snow is clear to the ear.

Ye Piao and Li Xiao changed into long fur coats, put on mink fur cloaks, pulled up their fur hats, and put on leather gloves to protect their hands. As if they were on a long journey through the snow, they led their horses out.

"Aren't you taking Manager Fang with you?"

Ye Piao hated to go out when the weather was cold, but when he thought about the cold snow wine that was kept privately by the government that year, he still showed the spirit of chasing and killing Huainan giant bandits for thousands of miles and turned over. Get on the horse and follow behind Li Xiao.

Li Xiao let out a sigh of relief, looked back at Ye Piao, and said with a low smile, "Director Fang has been sent by me to do an important matter. Maybe we can see him when we arrive at Changzhou Mansion."

important matter?Presumably, he used the gold and silver of Wuzui Villa first to bribe the officials to take out a jar of cold snow wine, right?

They are all abolished kings, but Li Xiao still cannot do without the domineering demeanor of a prince.Thinking of this, Ye Piao secretly laughed.

The snow was so thick that it made the mountain road difficult.

Fortunately, the black cloud that Chang Zuihou rode and the white horse that Ye Piao rode were rare horses in a century.

The two horses, carrying their master on their backs, carefully descended the mountain road, taking each step steadily.

Ye Piao gradually became drowsy, but the wind blew on his face like a knife, making him want to take a nap on the horse.He wrapped his scarf around his neck, and his eyes suddenly followed Li Xiao's figure in the wind and snow.

Li Xiao, on the other hand, reined in his horse calmly and walked ahead to open the way. He looked back at the deep forest with great ambition, and there was a trace of chill in his eyes.

Changzhou Mansion is not far from Baishui Town, and it takes only two days to go back and forth.

After Li Xiao and Ye Piao went down the mountain, they found a place to have a hearty meal, rejuvenated their spirits, took some dry food, and set off on their horses.

When we arrived at Changzhou Mansion, there was martial law there, and the officers and soldiers would not let anyone in, saying that the emperor was going to visit here soon, and no one else was allowed to enter the city.

If it was Ye Piao, he would definitely turn around and leave, and then enter over the wall.And beside him is Chang Zuihou who is very skilled.

I saw Li Xiao took out a waist card and showed it to them. The leading officers and soldiers looked at the waist card, and then carefully sized up Ye Piao and Li Xiao, leading a group of officers and soldiers to disperse immediately and respectfully invite They entered the city.

Ye Piao looked back curiously at the group of officers and soldiers who had been proud of them before, and wondered what Li Xiao had shown them, and they had become so submissive.

"What did you show them? Could it be your order?"

Li Xiao put away the badge, slowed down, led the horse to Ye Piao's side and whispered in his ear, "This is the eunuch's token to walk in the palace, and it is only for the emperor to do business outside."

"you!"

Ye Piao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, thinking that he was a hero after all, and he had to pretend to be a eunuch to enter the city.Fortunately, Li Xiao came up with such a bad idea!

"Hahaha……"

Li Xiao smiled and led the horse forward. In front of him was the best restaurant in Changzhou Mansion - Fenzhiju, where he had already booked a banquet room.

Changzhou Mansion is an important town in the south of the Yangtze River, and has always been famous for its prosperous merchants and beautiful scenery.

And Zouma Street, which is crowded with people, can see the prosperity of Changzhou Prefecture. All kinds of performers, large and small vendors are all pulling out their postures on the street, or renting shopfronts, or just setting up a stall. , yelling and pulling, in short, one glance is full of prosperity.

Li Xiao was not in a hurry to go to Fenzhiju, he hadn't left Baishui Town for a long time, and now he was free to go out for a stroll, so he was naturally full of interest.

On the side of the noisy street, all the stalls were bustling with activity, except for an old bearded man whose stall was deserted, with a piece of cloth placed high in front of him, on which was written in red letters: If you know the world early, you will know what will happen next. Life is ups and downs, between pinching fingers.

"This man really has a big tone." Li Xiao pointed at the old man who was tucking his beard into meditation, and smiled at Ye Piao.

"If he could tell fortunes, would he sit here and suffer from the cold? It's just a scam." Ye Piao didn't believe these charlatans the most, and immediately snorted softly.

I don't know if the words of the two were heard by the old man, he opened his eyes and smiled, and said to Li Xiao and Ye Piao who were passing by his stall: "Just now I heard that the two of you don't believe my words, you might as well let me take your place Let's look at the palmistry to see if the little old man is cheating money, or if the two of you are wrong."

Li Xiao took the reins of the horse and made Wu Yun stand behind him. He glanced at Ye Piao and started to take off his gloves, "Brother Ye, since the old man said so, why don't we show him?"

Ye Piao didn't know why Li Xiao suddenly became so interested, but seeing the other party's eagerness to try, he thought that it was probably because the Hou Ye who lived in a wealthy family hadn't had much contact with folk things, so he was as interested as a child Bar.

Give it a try, let him be a fool!My son was deceived last time, and he has learned a lot.

"Okay. You go first." Ye Piao smiled and made up his mind to see Li Xiao's fooled joke.

Li Xiao stretched out his left hand as he said, and the old man immediately looked closely at his palm prints.

After a while, the old man said respectfully to Li Xiao: "Your Excellency has a grand destiny, you must be a wealthy family, but your luck is too rough, you can't always get what you want, there are three catastrophes in life, if you can live through them one by one, you will surely be... ..."

Having said that, the old man kept silent and just smiled.

Li Xiao thought that he saw his extraordinary appearance and luxurious clothes, so he used some grand horoscope to prevaricate, but when he heard that he said that his fate was bad, he immediately felt sorry for him.

He established himself as King Ning, and made great military exploits, suppressing barbarians with Weixi.

He originally thought that after this, he would be honored and honored and inherit the throne, but he never thought that his father would pass the throne to his frail elder brother before his death. He encouraged him to rebel, but he didn't expect that the plan of rebellion had not been half known by the emperor, which made him fall into exile.

Isn't this just because of the bad luck, and I can't always say what I think?

"If I survive three catastrophes, what will happen in the future?!"

Li Xiao was very interested in hearing it, and thinking of his purpose of coming to Changzhou Mansion, he was even more eager to learn.

The old man looked at Li Xiao and smiled, then stood up and began to close the stall, "Why ask again, destiny is fixed."

"Who is the destiny?!" Li Xiaomeng stood up, grabbed the old man's wrist, and asked sharply in a rude manner.

Ye Piao looked at Li Xiao like this in surprise, and hurriedly gave him a hand, "How can you chase people and tell fortunes like you."

The old man rubbed his wrist that was pinched by Li Xiao, shook his head and said with a smile, "Have you ever read the Three Kingdoms? Mr. Cao once said something at the Tongque Terrace banquet, which can be used as your comment."

Li Xiao let go of his hand and carefully recalled the content of the Three Kingdoms.

At that time, everyone persuaded Cao Gong to proclaim himself emperor, but he laughed and said: If the fate is my destiny, I will be King Wen of Zhou.

"What a King Wen of Zhou!" Li Xiao raised his eyebrows and smiled.

He asked himself how he could be so arrogant and arrogant all his life. If he didn't want to be King Wen of Zhou, he would be King Wu of Zhou if he wanted to.

Ye Piao didn't know what was the meaning of the conversation between the old man and Li Xiao?

What destiny, what King Wen of Zhou, what nonsense.

Now he only cares about the pot of Hanxue wine that is still waiting for them in Fanzhiju. Does it taste good after a long time?

"Stay still, Chang Zui Hou, don't you want to get drunk today?"

Ye Piao urged, took out a piece of broken silver from his pocket and threw it to the old man, which was also counted as payment.

The old man took the money thrown by Ye Piao, looked him over again, and said solemnly, "Master, I have a few words to give."

Ye Piao was impatient, but couldn't help being curious.

"How many words?"

"Care to take the person in front of you." After finishing speaking, the old man gave Li Xiao a look, packed up his things, pushed the stall and left.

Ye Piao was puzzled, and turned his head to look at Li Xiao. The other party was standing in the wind and snow smugly, with a bit of awe-inspiring demeanor. Perhaps, King Ning, who was on the expedition to Chamu back then, had such a heroic demeanor.

Li Xiao was in a happy mood, turned to look at Ye Piao and said with a smile, "It doesn't matter if you don't listen to what the old man said earlier, but the latter sentence is absolutely true. Brother Ye, you must listen, and remember to cherish the person in front of you." !"

"Master Hou, what kind of person are you, you still use me to take it? Don't be kidding."

Ye Piao was warmed by Li Xiao's gentle gaze, but she didn't want to follow his words, so she gave a cold snort and led the horse forward.