Oriole Line

After days of hard fighting and the tragic death of his mentor, if he couldn't keep this person in his arms, he couldn't bear it.

That night, Pu Chen couldn't remember how many times he soaked in ice water.In the middle of the night, he was already very numb, he couldn't feel the cold of the ice water, nor could he feel the heat of Wen Tao.He could only force himself to do this over and over again.Because he didn't dare to fall asleep, he was afraid that when he woke up, he would hold a dead body in his arms, a cold body that could no longer feel the temperature.

Pu Chen couldn't remember when he fell asleep. The next day when he was awakened by a "meow meow" cry, he broke out in a cold sweat, but when he opened his eyes the next second, he felt that he was saved instantly .Wen Tao opened his eyes and stared at him, complaining in a hoarse voice: "You finally woke up."

49, 49.

"Are you awake?" Pu Chen was overjoyed.

"Well, you can't hear me after calling you several times." Wen Tao's voice was very low, as if he had no strength, "Fortunately, this civet cat is spiritual and woke you up." "Meow" a few times.

Pu Chen laughed, got up quickly, and touched Wen Tao's forehead temperature with his hands, and the fever subsided as expected.Pu Chen felt relieved, just about to go to catch civet cats, when he lowered his head and found that he was only wearing obscene clothes, his chest was still open last night to cool down Wen Tao, Wen Tao seemed to have discovered it early, his head turned outward stubbornly, As if deliberately not looking at him.Embarrassed for a while, Pu Chen quickly tied the straps of his clothes.

Wen Tao said casually, "Is this cat really called Taotao?"

Pu Chen's hands tied with straps suddenly stopped, and pretended to give a casual "hmm".

"That's right, the Tao in my name?"

Pu Chen's "um" sound became even softer.

"I reasonably suspect that you want to take advantage of my name, but I have no proof." Although Wen Tao's voice is still weak, his eyes are bright.

Pu Chen lowered his head and chuckled for a while, the big stone that weighed on his heart yesterday was instantly removed.He leaned into Wen Tao's ear and whispered: "Yes, it's blatantly taking advantage, so what can you do, Taotao?"

"You..." Wen Tao was about to raise his left hand subconsciously, but a sharp pain hit him, and Wen Tao hissed lightly.

"Don't move your left hand yet." Pu Chen pressed Wen Tao's left arm.

Wen Tao seemed to remember what the doctor said before he fell into a coma, and tried to use his left hand to exert some strength, only to feel that his originally flexible and powerful left hand was like a huge stone connected by a silk thread, which was so heavy that he couldn't even lift it.His face darkened, and he whispered: "Is it true that I won't be able to use a sword in the future?"

Pu Chen pulled the corner of his mouth as hard as he could, but the pulling was very reluctant, and his smile looked extremely ugly.

"What if it can be recovered?" Pu Chen said very carefully.

Wen Tao shook his head slightly: "I used to be your personal guard. Although I didn't follow you for as long as Tang Yu and the others, I helped you a few times anyway."

"You are not a helper. You have repeatedly made extraordinary achievements, killing King Huben and defending Wuchang City. All my personal guards add up to the merits of you alone." Pu Chen rushed.

Wen Tao smiled, did not refute Pu Chen's statement, and continued to say in a low voice: "From now on, my left hand is useless, so I am not worthy to stay and be your personal guard."

"Where are you going? Back to Guangling Academy?" Pu Chen unconsciously grasped Wen Tao's left arm tightly.

Wen Tao sighed lightly, he didn't want to show his embarrassment to Pu Chen: "There is always room for shelter within the four seas."

"Why don't you stay in Pushi?"

"There is no place for me here." Wen Tao said calmly, "I am not someone who has followed you since childhood. I am your personal guard, and everyone under your command is watching. Now that I can't hold a sword in my left hand, what right do I have to occupy it?" Take the position of personal guard?"

"Not being able to be a personal guard doesn't mean you can't stay in Pu's family. Who would dare to drive you away?" Pu Chen said eagerly.

"Am I relying on Pu's for the rest of my life based on my previous achievements?" Wen Tao looked back and said slowly, "I don't need your pity."

"I never felt sorry for you."

"Then why should I stay in Pushi?"

"I..." Pu Chen grabbed Wen Tao's arm, stared at Wen Tao and said, "I am the Patriarch of the Pu family, and I say you can stay if you can!"

Wen Tao met Pu Chen's eyes, he had a fever all night, and it didn't take long for the fever to subside, but his thoughts were very clear, and he said slowly and clearly: "You know that I disapprove of power officials the most, the so-called power ministers control life and death based on their own selfish desires. Great power threatens the monarch from the top and oppresses the people from the bottom. He appoints cronyism inside and attacks dissidents outside. Pu Chen, you said that you don’t want to be a minister of power.”

Pu Chen clenched his fists: "I keep you here because you are worthy of this seat, not nepotism."

"Although you are the head of the family, you need to obey the crowd to employ people. This is not something you can decide alone."

Pu Chen frowned, chewing on the meaning of Wen Tao's words, and suddenly said: "It's really not up to me to decide. But you can decide. You can prove yourself that you are worth staying!"

Wen Tao was taken aback for a moment, then he said, "How to prove it?"

"Although you can't be my bodyguard, you can be my counselor."

"Counselor?" Wen Tao repeated the word.

"Sacrificing one's body is easy to get, but unparalleled counselors are hard to find. If you become my counselor, who in the entire Pu family would dare to disrespect you? Just like they treat Mr. Wei." Speaking of Mr. Wei, Pu Chen's tone sank Well, he has already ordered someone to restrain Mr. Wei's body, and he will bury him himself later.

"Mr. Wei..." Wen Tao repeated it in a murmur, and suddenly remembered the words "assisting the Patriarch" repeated by Mr. Wei who sacrificed himself to protect him when he fell from the building.Did Mr. Wei already have this idea when he saved himself?Allowing himself to replace him as a counselor to assist Pu Chen, is that why he is so reckless even if he sacrifices himself to protect himself?

"How about it, can you do it?" Pu Chen paid attention to Wen Tao's expression, and seeing his eyes fluttering, he should have moved his mind.

"What if... I can't do it?" Wen Tao hesitated.

The corner of Pu Chen's mouth twitched: "When you can't do it, I will punish you later."

This sly smile is exactly the same as when the two joined hands for the first time on the Jiankang cruise ship.Wen Tao's competitive spirit was instantly aroused, and he said with a smile, "Okay, it's a deal."

A month later, Wen Tao, who had almost recovered, went out for the first time.

At this time, it was the weather of early autumn. Although the sun in autumn was still bright, it was no longer the scorching heat of summer.Wen Tao no longer wore a long sword with arrow sleeves as before, but changed into a scribe's open-sleeved light blue gown.His waist is very slender, and under the large sleeves of the toga, he looks extraordinarily dusty.

Pu Chen had never seen Wen Tao dressed like this before, and he was fascinated by it at this glance.

Wen Tao looked at Pu Chen's eyes, then at himself, and asked doubtfully, "Well, isn't it good?"

Pu Chen smiled lightly and shook his head: "I've never seen you wear it like this, it looks good."

"In the past in Guangling Academy, all the disciples liked to wear open sleeves, but I found it troublesome."

When it comes to Guangling, Pu Chen feels a little uncomfortable. He doesn't like the existence of a place where Wen Tao can go back at any time.He silently helped Wen Tao into the carriage, and got in himself.The carriage moved forward slowly. Wen Tao hated riding in a carriage the most before he was injured, but this time, he didn't say anything. The meridian in his left hand has been broken, and he probably won't be able to ride a horse again in this life.

Neither of them spoke in the car.After a long time, Wen Tao said: "I forgot to tell you, I can't go back to Guangling."

"Oh, why?" Just now, because Wen Tao mentioned Guangling's depressed Pu Chen, I felt a burst of joy when I heard this.

"Qi Dai and I have parted ways." Wen Tao said calmly, "He can't forgive me for standing on His Majesty's side with you in Chaoyang Palace and killing his family."

"Oh." Pu Chen deliberately suppressed his joy, but when he mentioned Jiankang, the cloud in his heart deepened.The memorabilia about the great victory in Wuchang had been submitted long ago. Pu Chen also mentioned in the memorandum that taking advantage of the fact that the main force of Beiyan has been wiped out, the great chanyu Khalil is newly mourned, and the new chanyu is in an unstable position, he will launch a massive counterattack to retake the northern land .But Zhou Yan has no news other than the initial commendation edict and some rewards.

Seeing that Pu Chen was absent-minded and obviously worried about Jiankang, Wen Tao said again: "By the way, there is something I forgot to tell you. At that time we found traces of tar in Xiangyang City. Later, Khalil attacked Wuchang City , When you were there a few days ago, it happened to be raining heavily, and they only used trebuchets, not tar. Later, when you went to Luzhou to borrow troops, the rain was light, and Khalil used tar again."

Pu Chen suddenly said: "It turns out that the black hole on the city wall was caused by Beiyan's tar. I thought it was stained by us when we defended the city. Have you seen the tar in Haril with your own eyes?"

Wen Tao nodded: "I specially waited for their several barrels of tar to be fully used before blowing up the embankment and using water attack."

"That goes back to the question we asked when we were in Xiangyang, where did Haril get the tar?" Pu Chen said, "When Haril strangled to death, he hinted at collusion with our emperor."

"Khalil and His Majesty?" Wen Tao stared at Pu Chen, "Do you believe it?"

Pu Chen shook his head: "Khalil is cunning, I don't believe a word he says."

"Then where does his tar come from? You said that tar can only be made by a senior." Wen Tao's eyes were sharp.

"I don't know." Puchen said frankly, "Even though I have many doubts about His Majesty, I don't believe that he will commit treason."

"I'll investigate this matter," Wen Tao said.

"Oh?"

"Since my current identity is a counselor, it is natural for me to investigate."

Pu Chen nodded: "Wuchang's