The water is gurgling, the locust trees are green, and the willows are swaying in the wind.
The carriage drove across the long bridge across the river and stopped in front of the beach. The waiters and guards retreated. Zheng Biyu opened the curtain, looked around, and signaled Li Xuanzhen that he could get off.
Li Xuanzhen, wearing a flat turban and a narrow-sleeved cloth robe that was neither new nor old, jumped off the carriage. His personal soldiers led the horse. There was a quiver and a package hanging next to the saddle.
Zheng Biyu did not get off the carriage. He sat in the carriage and said calmly, "Your Highness, I can only take you here."
Li Xuanzhen turned around and looked at her: "Yu Niang, thank you."
Zheng Biyu smiled and said, "Your Highness, you don't have to thank me. I am just repaying your kindness."
Li Xuanzhen was stunned when he thought of that man.
The wind was strong near the bridge. Zheng Biyu raised her hand to brush away the messy hair on her temples: "Da Lang, I am very grateful to you for not killing Zheng Wu back then."
…
Zheng Wu was a hereditary servant of the Zheng family, and later became Zheng Biyu's bodyguard. When she got married for the first time, Zheng Wu sent her out of the pavilion and watched her and her husband walk into the bridal chamber and light candles in the bridal chamber.
Zheng Biyu never looked at Zheng Wu much. She was the daughter of an aristocratic family, born into a noble family, and had a great reputation. She was destined to marry into a wealthy family and become the mistress of a rich family. How could she be so self-deprecating as to show sympathy to the servants in her family?
The day after her wedding, Zheng Wu left.
He went to the battlefield and followed the son of the Zheng family to fight on the battlefield. He started from the smallest soldier and accumulated military merits bit by bit. He killed the enemy bravely and was quickly promoted. However, there were too many people like him in the chaotic world. After all, he was just a servant of the Xie family. No matter how hard he fought, he was just a small lieutenant beside the son of the Zheng family.
Zheng Biyu's first husband died at the hands of the Li family. A few days before the city was broken, Zheng Wu came to find her.
"Girl... The Zhao family is no match for the Li family... The Wei army will be able to attack the city in a few days."
He was standing on the steps holding a knife, covered in blood, looking nervous, his bright black eyes staring straight at Zheng Biyu.
Finally, he mustered up the courage to say, "Come with me. I will take the girl away and treat her well for the rest of my life."
Zheng Biyu has been familiar with women's training since childhood, and she has always been well-behaved and has never done anything out of the ordinary.
That night, she didn't know where she got the determination from, she lifted her skirt and walked down the stone steps step by step, and came in front of Zheng Wu.
Zheng Wu was overjoyed.
They looked at each other for a while without saying a word.
Just when Zheng Wu was about to say something, footsteps were heard. Someone from the Zheng family sneaked into the Zhao residence, came over, and knelt at Zheng Biyu's feet: "Girl, our distant branch is now under the command of the general of Wei County, and is very trusted. The master sent a servant to tell you that the Wei army is unstoppable and the Zhao family is doomed. Please don't panic, the general of Wei County Li has already issued an order that the Wei army will not offend you."
It was as if a gust of wind blew by, and the fire that had just ignited in Zheng Biyu's heart was immediately extinguished.
She stayed at the Zhao family, waiting for her relatives to come and pick her up.
Zheng Wu turned and left without saying a word.
Soon, the Zhao family was destroyed, and the Li family sent someone to propose marriage, and Zheng Biyu married Li Xuanzhen.
On the wedding night, she sat in the green room, gentle and dignified, and Li Xuanzhen sat beside her, handsome and calm. Both of them were calm and almost indifferent, and neither of them showed any joy. The woman who came to congratulate him could not help but look embarrassed and dared not make any jokes.
In the middle of the night, with red candles hanging high and all the guests had left, Zheng Biyu looked at the flickering candlelight and for some reason, her eyes suddenly became red.
Li Xuanzhen glanced at her, stood up, and said, "You settle down first."
Zheng Biyu was stunned.
At this time, there was a burst of fighting and noise from behind the courtyard wall, and someone shouted that there was an assassin.
Li Xuanzhen lifted the curtain and went out.
Soon, Zheng Wu was tied up and brought before Li Xuanzhen. The guards questioned him, but he said nothing.
Li Xuanzhen raised his knife.
Zheng Biyu in the tent sensed something and went out to look for Zheng Wu. When he recognized him, he gasped.
Zheng Wu saw her and looked at her intently.
Zheng Biyu's body froze, but she did not say anything to stop Li Xuanzhen.
The long knife fell, and she clenched her teeth tightly without saying a word.
Zheng Wu also didn't say anything.
He didn't die; the knife only cut off a few strands of his hair.
Zheng Biyu's tears flowed down.
Li Xuanzhen signaled the others to step back, untied Zheng Wu's restraints, and turned to look at Zheng Biyu.
"You guys go."
With tears in her eyes, Zheng Biyu walked up to Li Xuanzhen and bowed to him.
"What should the prince do then?"
Li Xuanzhen held the knife, his face showing neither anger nor hatred, and he said calmly: "It is enough for my wife to be the legitimate daughter of the Zheng family. Yu Niang, I am not a good husband. If Yu Niang only wants the honor of being the wife of the Crown Prince, I promise to respect you and treat you well. I can't give you anything else. Since Yu Niang loves someone, you shouldn't wrong yourself. I will take care of the next thing, and your father will not send people to hunt you down."
"I will let Qin Fei escort you away. You can go to Nanchu to avoid the limelight first. I will marry a daughter of the Zheng family in the future, and the Zheng family will still be prosperous."
Zheng Biyu sobbed softly, and Zheng Wu was overjoyed. He took her hand and took her away.
There are no worries, no pursuers, no possibility of involving the family's guilt... Everything Zheng Biyu is worried about will not happen. She can put down all her burdens and leave with Zheng Wu.
But the moment she stepped out of the hospital gate, she stopped.
Zheng Wu stopped and looked down at her. The expression on his face changed from ecstasy, confusion, bewilderment, shock, anger, disappointment, and finally despair.
He knew Zheng Biyu too well. She was born to be a cold-hearted woman, rational and restrained.
She was a daughter of an aristocratic family. If she abandoned her status and left him, how would they live in the future? How would they face the criticisms of the world?
If she married Li Xuanzhen, she would be the wife of the Li family's eldest son, and in the future she might even become the crown princess, or even the mother of a country because of her husband's status. How could she be willing to give up all this for a lowly servant?
Zheng Wu smiled self-deprecatingly and gently let go of Zheng Biyu's hand.
"There is a hierarchy, do not overstep your authority. I was foolish and delusional, I hope the Crown Prince and the Crown Prince's wife will forgive me."
Zheng Biyu watched his back disappear into the dark night, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, returned to Qinglu, and sat there in silence for the entire night.
A few years later, Zheng Biyu accidentally heard the bad news that Zheng Wu had died.
Zheng Biyu had no expression on his face. He uttered a faint "oh" and continued to chat and laugh with the women at the table. He returned to the inner courtyard, held his son in his arms and coaxed him to eat hot millet soup, still with a smile on his face.
She laughed all day long until midnight, when she suddenly woke up from her dream and called out Zheng Wu's name.
A handkerchief was handed to her. Li Xuanzhen looked at her without a trace of mockery or contempt in his eyes. He said, "Yu Niang, I am sorry for your loss."
Zheng Biyu burst into tears.
…
In front of the long bridge, willow trees are swaying in the smoke.
Li Xuanzhen stood beside the horse and asked, "Yu Niang, do you regret it?"
Zheng Biyu shook his head: "Your Highness, I have never regretted it."
She knows herself, and even if she had to do it all over again, she would still make the same choice.
"Da Lang, I don't regret it...but every time I think of Zheng Wu, I feel like there's a void in my heart. No matter what I use to fill it, it can't fill that void."
Zheng Biyu looked at Li Xuanzhen and said sincerely, "I have no chance to make up for it, so no matter what happened between you and Zhu Luyun in the past, I still hope that you can live with the woman you love."
Li Xuanzhen had been good to her in the past few years. She was married for the second time and almost left with another man on the wedding night. He knew everything about her and understood that what she wanted was glory and honor. He had never made fun of her or looked down on her.
She was grateful to him, but felt sorry for him. She was sober and rational, but her heart had already aged. As long as her family was stable, she didn't care about the other girls around him.
He still has the opportunity to have fun, how great!
"Da Lang, Princess Wen Zhao is still alive. You still have a chance to atone for your sins. Know your own heart and don't let hatred blind your eyes. The dead cannot be resurrected. Don't leave yourself with regrets."
Li Xuanzhen was distracted for a moment and then got on his horse.
"Yu Niang, I refused to let Li Zhongqian go all these years, and in the end Ah Yue was forced to marry. Why did she risk her life to send her personal soldiers to warn me?"
Zheng Biyu raised his chin and said, "Your Highness, do you think that the Seventh Princess should bear a grudge against you and the entire court, and sit back and watch the Northern Rong sneak attack the Great Wei, and want the entire Great Wei and tens of millions of people to be buried with her?"
She smiled.
"Your Highness, you underestimate me."
Li Xuanzhen pulled up the reins: "Yes, I underestimated him. I always told myself that Li De is the emperor, he had his reasons, the world is not unified yet, I can't kill him for my own personal vendetta, so I will start with Li Zhongqian, the position of the crown prince is what my mother sacrificed her life for, no one can take it away."
He was silent for a long time, and the past few years flashed through his mind one by one.
"Ah Yue gave me a chance... If I had been able to calmly accept her kindness at that time, none of these things would have happened later."
He is too stubborn.
"What's the difference between me and Li De?"
In the turbulent times, a good man did not think about reviving the country, pacifying the turbulent times, and saving the people from the water and fire. Because of his mother's last wish, he could not distinguish right from wrong and was in a trance. Ah Yue was forced into a desperate situation, but he was still able to decisively choose the greater good between personal hatred and justice. He had the ambition to end the turbulent times, but he was narrow-minded and tolerated his subordinates' conspiracy to plot against the loyal and good.
If you can't even clean your own house, how can you clean the world?
He is trapped by inner demons and is not worthy of being the heir apparent of a country.
"Yu Niang, you are a good mother." Li Xuanzhen gently kicked the horse's belly, "Teach our son well, don't let him be like me."
Zheng Biyu nodded: "Don't worry."
The galloping horse gradually goes away.
At this moment, thunderous sound of horse hooves came from the direction of the city gate, smoke and dust rolled up, and dozens of knights galloped towards them.
"Your Highness—"
The leading Governor Pei shouted, "Stop!"
Li Xuanzhen did not look back.
Commander Pei roared: "Your Highness, the Emperor has ordered that if Your Highness takes another step forward, we will shoot!"
Li Xuanzhen still didn't look back.
The horses rushed to the bridgehead, and Commander Pei gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "Shoot!"
The Jinwu Guards responded, bent their bows and drew their strings. There was a series of sharp sounds of breaking through the air, and feathered arrows rained down on Li Xuanzhen like locusts.
Li Xuanzhen rode his horse westward, his back looking determined and lonely.
Ah Yue is still alive, and he still has a chance to forgive his sins. Regardless of whether Ah Yue will forgive him or not, he will go to save her.
The former Li Xuanzhen is already dead.
Commander Pei did not dare to kill him, so he could only watch Li Xuanzhen's figure disappear in the willow smoke and return to the palace to report.
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has left."
The sword wound on Li De's shoulder had not healed yet. Upon hearing this, he let out a scream and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Li Xuanzhen really gave up the position of crown prince that Tang Ying had exchanged her life for.
All his life's hard work was wasted!
A lonely man... A lonely man...
Li De looked at the bright red bloodstains on the memorial and his hands trembled.
His most beloved son also abandoned him.
Incense curls up from the table.
…
Li Xuanzhen left Chang'an and rode as fast as he could, eating and drinking on horseback, and rushed to Liangzhou as quickly as possible.
The local officials of Liangzhou were shocked. Li Xuanzhen called the garrison generals and deployed them one by one, and all the generals received the order.
He changed to a good horse, filled his water bag, took a few empty saddled horses prepared for replacement, and set out on the journey west.
When the majestic Qilian Mountains appeared at the end of the sky, he put on a felt hat, changed into a thick leather jacket, and continued on his journey day and night.
The Northern Rong were heavily guarded and strictly prohibited Han people from entering the pass. Fortunately, he received intelligence from his personal soldiers before he set out, and avoided the enemy's checkpoints along the way, and entered the Helan area safely. Occasionally, he ran into a team of Northern Rong soldiers on patrol and was interrogated by them. Without saying a word, he killed them directly, snatched their horses, and then quickly changed direction.
The fields were boundless, the wind was howling, and there was no other color between heaven and earth, as if he was the only one left.
On this day, he had not eaten for three days and was tired, hungry, cold and thirsty. When he was crossing the snow-covered mountains, he suddenly heard a loud noise.
An iron arrow cut through the wind and snow and shot out.
Li Xuanzhen leaned back to avoid the iron arrow and fell off his horse.
The young horse was startled, raised its front hooves and neighed loudly.
Several dark shadows rose from the snow, rushed to the front of the mountain path, reined in their frightened horses, and one of them walked up to Li Xuanzhen and chopped him down with a knife with a domineering momentum.
The wind blew away the messy hair on his face, revealing a pair of cold phoenix eyes.
Li Xuanzhen rolled over to avoid the long knife and tore off the mask on his face.
The other party recognized him and was stunned for a moment. Then, a raging fire flashed in his eyes. He raised his arm and drew his sword, his face ferocious.
Li Xuanzhen looked at him without making any move to fight back: "Li Zhongqian, Mingyuenu is still alive."
He had been sending people to follow Li Zhongqian, knowing that he was looking for Li Yaoying's body in this area, and came to Helan just to tell Li Zhongqian the news.
Hearing his sister's name, Li Zhongqian was shocked and stopped the long sword in his hand. With his eyes wide open, he took a step forward and grabbed Li Xuanzhen's collar: "What did you say?"
His voice was hoarse, his eyes were bloodshot, and his look was gloomy, as if he wanted to eat his flesh and blood alive.
"I didn't lie to you." Li Xuanzhen said word by word, "I swear on my life that she is still alive. When the Yelu tribe was destroyed, she was captured by Haidu Aling. The news came from the Beirong, it is absolutely true."
Li Zhongqian said nothing, his eyes were so red that they seemed to bleed, and his hand, which was tightly grasping Li Xuanzhen's collar, was shaking with tremors.
He looked at the guard beside him with strange movements.
The guard knelt on the ground, his voice trembling, and nodded to him: "My dear, you are not dreaming! You are not crazy! The Seventh Princess is still alive!"
Li Zhongqian's blood-red eyes flashed with light, "Ming Yue Nu is still alive..."
These days, he dreamed of Xiao Qi again and again. He dreamed of her lying on his knees and acting coquettishly, dreamed of her happily spreading her legs and learning to walk, and dreamed of her waking up from a coma and seeing his face, her eyes shining: "Brother, you are still alive!"
He dreamed that she was sitting alone in her tent, crying, surrounded by the rough Yelu people, she cried and called his name, asking him to save her. He wanted to save her, but his body could not move, and he could only watch her suffer.
Every time I woke up from a nightmare, all I saw was a vast gray wilderness.
Sometimes he dreamed that he was searching for her for a long time but couldn't find her. Suddenly someone patted his shoulder and chuckled: "The Seventh Princess is still alive? What are you looking for?"
In his dream, Li Zhongqian was ecstatic. Yes, he was so stupid. Xiaoqi was still alive!
After waking up, he leaned against the cave blankly, thinking about the dream he had just had.
The more beautiful the dream is, the more heartbreaking the moment of waking up will be.
Li Xuanzhen, who was thousands of miles away, suddenly appeared before him. He thought it was another strange dream.
The guards knelt at his feet and told him that this was not a dream.
Xiao Qi is still alive.
Li Zhongqian turned his head and looked directly at Li Xuanzhen, his eyes flashing with a cold and sinister light. With a flash of silver light, the long sword fell.
Li Xuanzhen flew backwards and avoided the brutal knife.
"Ming Yue Nu is in Bei Rong, Li Zhongqian. How can you rescue her with your men? Even if you can rescue her and get her out of Bei Rong, how can you return to the Central Plains?"
He stood in the snow with a calm expression.
"Without a guide, without guidance, how long will it take you to find her? One year? Two years?"
"Li Zhongqian, my people are now in Beirong Yating. I have a way to reach Yizhou within two months. If you kill me, who will take you to rescue Mingyuenu?"
Li Zhongqian's pupils dilated.
Li Xuanzhen said: "The accounts between you and me will be settled one day in the future. Now, I just want to rescue Mingyue Nu first."
Li Zhongqian put away his long sword.
Nothing is more important than Xiaoqi's safety.
Xiaoqi, don't be afraid, wait for brother, brother is here to save you.