All the past was scattered in front of my eyes, and that tall and majestic body finally shattered into many pieces, flying down lightly like light goose feathers.
Suddenly, the midnight clock struck and a group of children ran over and bumped into her. A little girl fell to the ground and broke the colored lantern in her hand. It was a small fish, not very realistic looking. It was white in color with red eyes and looked more like a rabbit. There was a gold ingot painted on its belly. The child started crying while holding the broken lamp, and her crying became louder and louder. Chu Qiao stopped in a daze, then squatted down, reached out to wipe away her tears, took out a silver ingot from her bosom and was about to give it to her.
At this moment, a deafening sound of firecrackers suddenly came. The time for staying up all night was over, and every household lit firecrackers. The child was stunned, and stupidly forgot to cry. He covered his ears and shouted excitedly.
Chu Qiao seemed to be punched by an invisible giant, and her face instantly turned pale.
"If you die, I will set off a hundred firecrackers to celebrate the fact that I no longer have to remember to repay you." The man smiled, his eyes showing pride. "I'm just afraid you won't have the chance to set off firecrackers."
The sound of firecrackers became louder and louder, crackling like a string. Chu Qiao suddenly burst into tears. Those scenes hidden in her memory, which she had tried hard to suppress, once again burst out like a mountain torrent. The heart-wrenching pain came over her in an instant, shattering her calmness and self-control.
"You...what's wrong with you?" The child was frightened by her and shouted loudly amid the sound of firecrackers, "Don't cry, can't I just not ask you to pay for it?"
The sound of firecrackers grew louder. Chu Qiao could no longer bear it. She knelt down on the busy and festive street, covered her face, and burst into tears. The pool outside suddenly made a gurgling sound, and the wind blew in, blowing open another window. Chu Qiao stood up to close the window, but saw that the old plum tree under the roof had grown as tall as the house. She couldn't help but be stunned, and her hand stretched in the air suddenly stopped. The moonlight shone on her wrist, mottled and hazy.
In a blink of an eye, two years have passed and the newly planted plum tree has grown as tall as the eaves.
Time is the most ruthless thing in the world. It will never stop because of any joy or sorrow. When it leaves in a hurry, any once intense emotions will gradually cool down.
That night, she left Yunbi City and walked for half a month before finally arriving in Beishuo. Then one morning, when she walked along the deserted Beishuo Street and out of the Beishuo city gate, she saw thousands of Yanbei people.
They included native residents of Beishuo City as well as common people who had come from far inland, including Shangshen, Luori Mountain, Lancheng, Chidu, Huihui Mountain, and Meilin. When the common people learned that she was leaving, they came together without saying a word. She had met many such teams along the way, but she didn't know them, and they never disturbed her. They just followed her quietly all the way until this moment, when they gathered at the gate of Beishuo City, quietly watching her and seeing her off for the last time.
In the crowd there were white-haired old men, young children, blue-eyed people from outside the Great Wall, merchants from Donglu who came to do business, the Chidu militia who had fought side by side with her against the Daxia army, the people of Beishuo who escaped death under her protection, the people of Shangshen who participated in her road construction and trade, and the herdsmen who herded horses and sheep at the foot of Huihui Mountain.
These people left the city early in the morning and lined up quietly on both sides of the road, leaving a clear path. When they saw her come out, they all looked at her.
Chu Qiao still cannot forget those looks. The looks contained reluctance, sadness, attempts to keep someone from leaving, grief, worry, and fear. However, they turned all those looks into silence. Even the three or four-year-old children did not make a sound. They just looked at her quietly, looked at her quietly.
At that moment, she was so sad that she wanted to cry.
She knew her responsibilities. Over the past year, she traveled all over Yanbei and spread the idea of peace to every corner of Yanbei. She led them to build their homes and worked hard to restore production behind the battle lines. They trusted and supported her wholeheartedly. This nation, which had been oppressed for hundreds of years, placed all its desire for freedom and hope for a better life on her, but now, she was about to leave, to betray her promise to them, to leave them, and never again to ask about the dream that she had fought for with all her might.
He Xiao stood in front with 9,000 officers and soldiers of the Xiuli Army, fully armed and with their bags packed, looking like they were going on a long journey with her.
There was no need to say anything more; she could only stand there blankly, like a stone statue.
Suddenly, a pair of small, soft hands hugged her waist. She lowered her head and saw a girl in her teens. She looked at her without saying a word, tilting her head stubbornly, with tears in her eyes that refused to fall. Ping An ran over from behind and tried to pull his sister away, but he couldn't.
Ping An was serving in the army at that time. When she was sent to the inland of Yanbei by Yan Xun for the first time, Xiao Jingjing followed her and stayed with her for more than a year.
"Sister," Jingjing finally burst into tears, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Don't you want me anymore? Don't you want me anymore?"
The child began to cry, and the people stood there in rows. It was unknown who knelt down first, but gradually large groups of people knelt on the ground. The elderly in their seventies and eighties cried and asked repeatedly: "My lord, don't you want us anymore?"
"My lord, if you were not here, I would be captured and made a slave again."
"My Lord, where are you going? Can I go with you?"
…
The cold wind blew, blowing up the snow on the ground. Chu Qiao, who was traveling far away, loosened the reins of her horse, raised her head, looked at the bright sun, and tears flowed down the corners of her eyes and fell into her thick hair.
The heavy responsibility weighed on her shoulders, making her breathless.
She knew who was manipulating all this, but she was powerless to escape. He knew her too well, so he could control her with just a little trick.
That day, she seemed to have shed all the tears in her life. Standing on the vast snowy ground, she felt like a kite held in someone's hand, without even a string. She didn't know where to escape if she wanted to.
She stayed there in such a miserable way, living halfway up the Huihui Mountain, and stayed there for two years.
During the two years, she watched him recruit soldiers and pay taxes, watched him capture cities and territories, watched him implement a military service system that was more stringent than that of Daxia, watched him eliminate dissidents step by step, and firmly established his iron rule in Yanbei.
Sometimes she thought that life was a wonderful thing. It always gave you hope when you were in despair and allowed you to keep going. Then, when you were about to get close to hope, it poured a basin of cold water on all your dreams.
Yan Xun succeeded after all, and Da Xia could not hold its head up under his suppression.
After Zhuge Yue's death, the Zhuge clan hurriedly distanced themselves from the matter and expelled Zhuge Yue from the family tree and the family, and even did not bury his body in the family mausoleum. But despite this, they were still implicated, and their status in the Council of Elders was much lower than before. Zhuge Huai was also demoted and demoted again and again. Although Zhuge Muqing was still trying to make amends and actively supporting the family's collateral descendants, the effect was obviously not good.
As Zhuge Yue's direct superior, Zhao Che also could not escape the fate of being demoted. This prince, who had experienced many ups and downs, was once again demoted to the northeastern border, to a barren land to supervise the construction of a completely unnecessary military project, and thus was away from the political arena of Daxia.
The most unimaginable thing is that the fourteenth prince Zhao Yang would actually form an alliance with the Wei clan. With the support of Wei Guang, Zhao Yang became the most powerful prince in Daxia and was named King of Zhou. Wei Shuye also rose to prominence and took control of the military power of Yanming Pass.
The power structure of Daxia was reshuffled, but anyone with a discerning eye could easily find that the former arrogance had gradually faded away from Daxia. Facing the powerful cavalry of Yanbei, they seemed increasingly unable to cope. Although Wei Shuye also had considerable military talent, he was far more skilled than Yan Xun and there was also domestic political interference, so he had to gradually switch from offense to defense. Over the past year, his fatigue had become increasingly apparent.
Now that Simon is divided into four parts, Bian Tang and Li Ce have firmly established themselves on the throne, Princess Huai Song, Nalan Hongye, is in charge of the government, and Yan Xun is entrenched in the northwest, facing Da Xia across the river. No one dynasty is dominant anymore.
However, despite this, Yan Xun never dared to easily break through Daxia, because in the southwest of Helan Mountain, a new regime suddenly appeared in everyone's sight. No one knew the origin of that regime, and no one even knew their actual number of people. They only vaguely knew through passing merchants and scouts sent out that the leader of that regime called himself "King of Qinghai".
Qinghai, located south of the Helan Mountains and west of the Cuiwei Mountains, is rumored to be a desolate, hot and barren area where wild beasts roam rampant and no grass grows. As early as more than two thousand years ago, it was the place of exile for criminals by major political powers on the mainland. It is said that almost no one who went there could survive. They either became food for wild beasts or died of various strange diseases. Therefore, exile to Qinghai has always been synonymous with death. Some people would rather die in Ximen than set foot in Qinghai. Over the years, countless prisoners have committed suicide in Cuiwei Pass.
However, in such a place where poisonous insects are everywhere, ferocious beasts are rampant, and no grass grows, a regime suddenly emerged like a meteor.
On July 17, 778, Yan Xun personally commanded an army of 70,000 to attack the south gate of Yanming Pass. When success was about to come, the enemy suddenly appeared in the southwest rear. They were agile, fierce in battle, moved as fast as the wind, and as swift as wolves. They penetrated into the left wing of the Yanbei Army like a knife and crushed the Yanbei Army's offensive. However, just as Yan Xun hurriedly turned his horse around to fight back, they disappeared like air.
It was not until a long time later that the scouts found their traces in Cuiwei Pass, and now Cuiwei Pass had been occupied by a man named "King of Qinghai".
This was truly a bolt from the blue for Yanbei. Because Cuiwei Pass is located near the Helan Mountains and west of the Chishui River, this means that in addition to the Quanrong people outside Meilin Pass, there is another enemy called the King of Qinghai behind Yanbei. What's worse is that Meilin Pass is in the hands of Yanbei, while Cuiwei Pass belongs to the King of Qinghai.