Although it is already April, the nights in Liangzhou City are still freezing cold.
Huo Yan lit the lamp oil in the tent, and Mo Yu brought in a pot of charcoal fire, put it down, and left.
There was light in the tent, and Huo Yan looked at his desk first.
His eyes lit up slightly, reflecting the light of the candle.
Walking towards the table, his armor jingled. He lowered his head and flipped through the pile of letters on the table. He couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips. His originally sharp outline suddenly softened under the light.
He first looked at the cover. At the top of each letter it was written: From Daddy.
The handwriting changed from being crooked at the beginning to being smooth and easy later on, and the strokes of the pen are already faintly visible.
Huo Yan didn't rush to open it, but just flipped through the pile of letters until he reached the bottom, where he saw handwriting that was completely different from the previous envelope.
It reads: From Huo Yan himself.
Huo Yan stared at the four words. The familiar running script, unrestrained and elegant, appeared before him again after ten years.
He didn't know what he was nervous about, but he suddenly felt relieved.
But I kept staring at those four words and felt a little dissatisfied.
It was always written as "A Yan" in the past, how come it has now become "Huo Yan" with both name and surname?
He frowned slightly, but finally opened the letter and read it carefully.
The more Huo Yan looked, the tighter his brows furrowed. He opened a wooden box from under the table. Inside was a lot of letters, all with "From A Yan himself" written on the envelopes.
He picked up one at random and opened the letter inside. It was filled with several pages of densely written words, recording all the big and small things that happened in the capital.
Comparing this time with Yuan Zhao's letter, the content was very little, just talking about some major events that happened after he left.
I had only written a little over half of the page, and at the end I wrote to him,
"Xiaoyu has written a lot about the other trivial matters, so I won't go into details."
"Xiaoyu is keen on writing to you, so she has sent you too many letters. If you are busy, you can take your time reading them and reply to only one per month."
This seemed to explain to him why she wrote so little.
Huo Yan stared at the paper for a long time, then suddenly smiled helplessly.
Never mind, it’s great to be able to write to him.
After reading Yuan Zhao's letter, he put it aside and began to open Yuan Qi Yu's letter.
"Dad, today is the second day since you left. Where are you now? Mom said you went to the northwest, which is a long way... Today I'm attending class with my brothers and sisters, but I have many questions. I'm thinking of Dad's words and trying my best to listen..."
"Daddy, Brother Xuan and Second Sister have been arguing these past few days... I don't understand why they're angry. I'll ignore them and focus on writing..."
"Daddy, who is the Saint? Why does she like... Why does she like you? What does it mean to see Zhong Qing at first sight? Does Daddy like the Saint?..."
"Daddy, today I'm going with Mom to my Third Uncle's place. He's a bit fierce, but he's afraid of Mom..."
"Daddy, I did something naughty today. I painted a red plum blossom on a villain's face... The red plum blossom was taught by Mother. Mother painted the red plum blossom and also a large red flower that Xiaoyu didn't understand. She said it was a phoenix flower... Mother often stood under the dead tree in the yard for a long time and didn't leave..."
…
The candlelight was dim, flickering and reflecting on Huo Yan's clear outline.
His expression changed from time to time depending on what was on his mind, sometimes smiling, sometimes puzzled, and sometimes raising an eyebrow.
Yuan Qi Yu wrote a letter almost every day, recording all the big and small things in his life.
There are his own, his mother's, his sister's, his brothers and sisters'...
Huo Yan looked at the letter and saw him occasionally scribbling or rewriting a word several times before getting it right, and sometimes other words would appear next to it...
He seemed to be able to see the scene in the study of the princess's mansion in the capital, where an adult and a child were working on their own things at the table.
At this moment, it seemed as if the person thousands of miles away was right in front of him, as if he had never left.
"Hey! Ha!" The neat shouts of the soldiers' evening training came from outside. Huo Yan put down the letter in his hand, and his thoughts returned from the capital to Liangzhou.
His usually resolute expression was momentarily stunned.
The Huo family comes from a family of military generals. He knew from a young age that he would go to the battlefield like his father and grandfather.
After the battle of Jifeng Valley, his father and uncle died in battle. He knew that only he could shoulder the burden of the Huo family army.
After being stationed at the border for ten years, his heart became as hard as the frozen soil here.
The soldiers under his command have been replaced several times, and he thought he would stay here forever.
But now, he is a little shaken.
…
"General, secret report." Mo Yu's voice outside interrupted Huo Yan's thoughts.
He came to his senses, quickly restrained his expression, and returned to his usual stern appearance.
"Come in." He said as he collected the letters on the table one by one and put them aside neatly.
Mo Yu lifted the curtain and came in, handing Huo Yan the secret report he had just received.
"It was sent by spies from Northern Qiang."
Huo Yan opened it and read it carefully.
Mo Yu watched from the side and could not see any unnecessary expression on the general's face.
But he was used to it. He had been following Huo Yan for several years, and he had always been a person who never showed his emotions.
"General, the Northern Qiang have been unusually quiet lately. Are they planning something big?"
After reading it, Huo Yan folded the secret report into the candle flame and let it burn slowly.
"It is said that the King of Northern Qiang has been ill recently and has not attended court for many days. He has handed over all state affairs to the Northern Qiang Grand Marshal Helian Chang..."
Mo Yu was a little surprised. "Isn't the Northern Qiang King very young? How could he be ill so soon after ascending the throne?"
Huo Yan was silent for a while, then asked, "Has the Northern Qiang envoys been on the road for almost a month?"
Mo Yu nodded. "We should be arriving in the capital soon. It's a little strange, but even though the delegation has many carriages and horses, they seem to be moving very slowly, often staying at rest stations for a day or two..."
The more Mo Yu spoke, the more she felt something was wrong. Huo Yan naturally noticed it too. He took out his pen and ink and quickly wrote a secret letter.
"Send this letter back to the East Palace as quickly as possible." He sealed the letter and handed it to Mo Yu.
"yes!"
After Mo Yu left, Huo Yan sat down again and stared at the pile of letters on the table.
He sighed slightly.
The King of Northern Qiang ascended the throne, and the situation in the northwest was unclear. How could he escape?
Even if His Majesty allowed it, his responsibilities would not allow him to just let go and leave.
Before his father died in battle, he held his hand tightly and asked him to promise not to abandon any of his brothers on the battlefield.
When it comes to love and country, there seems to be no choice as to which side to sacrifice.
Yuan Zhao understood him, so he said that word of rejection:
"The Northwest is your battlefield."
Huo Yan felt annoyed and walked out of the tent.
There was a bright moon in the sky, and he let out a breath.
In any case, he has missed it once and cannot miss it a second time!
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