Harue Kagetsu

After Chongyang passed, the army that had been temporarily stationed outside the city began to pull out camps one after another and leave the capital.

With the exception of a few, most of the troops of Xu Mi's military mansion are preparing to return to Jingxiang tomorrow.

Yang Xuan was ordered to stay to follow up on Li Mu's marriage.

In the evening, the barracks was busy but not chaotic. On the last night of rest, the kitchen added a meal, which included meat and wine. There is a relaxed atmosphere everywhere.

Li Mu came out of the Yuanmen, saw Gao Huan waiting there, walked towards him, nodded slightly, and smiled.

Gao Huan's face darkened, and in his eyes, he could no longer see the clarity of the past.

"General Li, my uncle is here and has something to tell you. You come with me."

He avoided Li Mu's line of sight, said in a low voice, turned around and walked away, walking in a hurry.

Li Mu followed him to the Yinma River and saw Gao Qiao standing by the river from a distance, looking at the sunset that was about to sink on the top of the distant mountain.

The wind was blowing his beard and hair and the corners of his clothes, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

Li Mu walked behind Gao Qiao and gave him a salute: "Li Mu has seen the husband."

Gao Qiao didn't move, and kept looking at the sunset until it sank down the mountain. Fang slowly turned around, looked at Li Mu, and said, "Li Mu, you know what I was thinking?"

"The end will not know."

"I was thinking that the sunset I saw here should also sink on the west bank of the Luo River. However, I was looking at it here, but at the same time, on the other side of the Luo River, who saw it sink? "

There was a sense of desolation in his tone.

Li Mumo was silent.

Gao Qiao looked at him for a moment and sighed.

"Li Mu, to be honest, when I first saw you, I had high hopes for you. You are the most capable general in the army I have ever seen in my life. With time, it will become a great weapon for the country. It's just me. I don't understand, why did you plan to use my words from the very beginning? Your marriage proposal made me, the Gao family, the Lu family, and even the Xu family, all involved and suffered deeply. Tu, it's not as simple as being my son-in-law Gao Qiao! I called you here today, just to ask you, what is your purpose?"

Li Mu raised his eyes and looked at Gao Qiao opposite.

"Returning to Xianggong's words, Li Mu did not try his best to marry his wife, but out of admiration."

His tone was calm, no waves.

Gao Qiao frowned and stared at him for a moment, sneering.

"What an admiration! Your admiration is a very simple reason, but it makes the three major families of the dynasty feel hurt because of you! Today's stable situation is finally achieved. The three families are in balance with each other. Although there is competition, none of them can easily break the balance. This time, there is the rebellion of the King of Linchuan, and then the Jiangbei War. , the three families worked together to overcome the difficulties together. But now, because of your actions, the three families are in discord."

"Li Mu, what exactly are you planning?"

Gao Qiao's tone suddenly became severe.

"Li Mu's request to marry is out of admiration."

His tone was still calm.

Gao Qiao frowned more and more tightly, and his face became ugly.

"Li Mu, do you really think that I, Gao Qiao, will have nothing to do with you? If you really ask me to verify, you have ulterior motives and other plans, I will cherish your talents again, and kill you for the purpose of the Great Yu world. , but a little thing!"

"Master, can I ask you something?" Li Mu asked suddenly.

"Speak." Gao Qiaohan frowned.

"Even if there is no Li Mu's marriage proposal, dare to ask the minister, how long can the harmony between His Majesty and the three families be maintained in the present court?"

Gao Qiao was startled.

"Li Mu dared to ask again, why did Xianggong return in a bad way in the Northern Expedition?"

Gao Qiao's face changed.

"Li Mu is only a military man, he only knows how to march and fight, but he doesn't understand the affairs of the court. Since Xianggong has condescended to come to find me today, because the minister just said that he had high hopes for me, Li Mu swears here, no matter what the situation of the court will be in the future. , If the lord has the ambition of the Northern Expedition again, Li Mu is willing to be the pioneer, not to break Loulan, and swear not to look back!"

After Li Mu finished speaking, he stepped aside and stopped talking.

Gao Qiao seemed a little surprised and looked at him fixedly.

The sky is full of red clouds, the autumn wind is blowing in the wild, and the yellow grass is rolling. In the distance, there were several low and deep voices of the barracks.

Gao Qiao seemed to have recovered from this.

His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he still didn't speak. Glancing at Li Mu again, with a sullen face, his hands behind his back, he walked away.

Li Mu watched Gao Qiao's back go away, and was about to leave when Gao Huan suddenly walked over quickly.

He stopped in front of Li Mu and stared at him.

"General Li, I used to respect you very much. But you disappointed me too much. Now that I think about it, you may have made up your mind to save me when you first saved me, and you will embarrass my uncle! I..."

A face of his, gradually rose red.

"I'd rather commit suicide and return my life to you than make my uncle so embarrassed! I don't want to make my sister lose her good luck and wash her face with tears!"

He gritted his teeth, and with a "choking" sound, he pulled out the long sword hanging from his waist, and the blade rested on his throat.

Jianmang quickly cut his skin.

A bloodstain ran down his neck slowly.

Li Mu looked at him and said indifferently: "Zile, since you know that I am such a person, do you think it would be useful to threaten me with your life like this?"

He looked up and glanced at the darkening sky.

"It's getting late, you should go back."

After he finished speaking, he walked over from Gao Huan's side.

Gao Huan froze in place, turned his head slowly, saw him striding away, and his figure gradually turned into a black spot in the twilight.

…

Li Mu returned to his tent, and Liu Yong immediately followed him and said with a smile: "General Li, the second brother Jiang from Jingkou has followed your instructions and found an excuse to send the old lady to a safe place to stay. I don't know who spread the news. It's only been a few days. Everyone in Jingkou knows about it, and everyone is elated. The brothers are even happier than marrying themselves. The old lady is still in the dark. I don't know at all. When the old lady finds out, I still don't know how to be happy. Also, Jiang Erxiong also said that except for the few people who came to find the old lady last time and had to go back, this time I caught a few sneaky ones again, and the suspicion was sent by the Gao family. How to deal with it?"

"Let it go." Li Mu said.

"Let go?"

Liu Yong's eyes widened.

"Second brother Jiang said that those people don't look like good people, they should be trying to harm the old lady! Everyone is very angry!"

"Let it go. I can ask the second brother to protect my mother comprehensively on my behalf."

Liu Yong scratched his head, and suddenly seemed to think of something, he smiled: "I see! I heard that General Yang went to propose marriage to Gao Xianggong today on behalf of the general, and Gao Xianggong came to look for the general in person, the eldest princess is no longer happy, general I must be married to a beautiful young lady from the Gao family soon. If you want a family, naturally it is not good to be too embarrassing for the princess!"

Li Mu smiled.

…

In autumn, the days are getting shorter and shorter, and the sky is dark when it is no more than the unitary time.

As soon as it got dark, I felt cold.

The barracks are under night ban, and in the early morning of tomorrow, most of the troops will be on their way home. Tonight, the soldiers got into the camp early and slept soundly.

Li Muxie was late, sitting alone behind a simple table in the tent.

Although he is now called a general by the soldiers, his position is not high. Although there is a single tent to live in, there are no soldiers to guard it, and the tent is old and has several cracks on the top.

The night wind from time to time penetrated from the opening, blowing the lights to jump on and off.

Li Mu was still reading a volume of military books in his hand.

The night is getting darker and the autumn coolness is getting stronger. From time to time, the sound of the distant night wind blowing through the roof of the tent can be heard from time to time, which doubles the loneliness of this autumn night.

In front of Li Mu's case, there was a pot of wine. It was sent by a soldier in front of Yang Xuan. Said that the wine was distributed in the camp tonight, General Yang knew that he was sleeping late, so he specially reserved a pot for him to warm up.

Li Mu poured a glass of wine and put it there. He casually flipped through the military book in his hand, stretched out his hand several times, picked up the wine, seemed to want to drink it, but put it down again.

Several times.

The last time, he brought the wine to his lips, and when he saw that he was about to drink, he seemed to see something important in the book and stopped.

Somewhere in the dark outside the tent, a peeping eye suddenly widened.

Li Mu stopped for a while, and finally raised his arm, brought the cup to his mouth, and drank it. Afterwards, he put the empty cup on the table and continued to read the military book.

After a while, he seemed to have a headache. He supported his forehead, put down the military book, and the lamp was still on. He got up and walked over to the simple marching Hu bed. When he turned his back, he lay down.

For a long time, he remained motionless, as if he had fallen asleep.

With a "click", a small pebble flew in from a hole in the tent wall, and threw it onto Li Mu's shoulder.

He closed his eyes tightly and didn't react at all.

A moment later, a dark figure quietly sneaked in from outside the tent, sneaked silently in front of the Hu bed, took out a slender bamboo basket from his body, and lifted the lid.

A triangular green snake head emerged from the bamboo basket, spitting out red letters.

The man held his breath and moved the snake's head towards Li Mu's neck, getting closer and closer.

Seeing that the snake's head was about to touch Li Mu's neck, suddenly, Li Mu opened his eyes, raised his hand, grabbed like a lightning bolt, and grabbed the seven-inch head of the snake. When it was cut, the snake seemed to have its spine taken out, and suddenly hung down weakly.

The man was taken aback, stepped back suddenly, turned around and was about to leave the tent, but there was no way to escape.

Li Mu pulled out a long sword from under his pillow, and the cold light passed by, hitting the man's throat like lightning.

"Who sent you?"

Li Muren also stood in front of the tent door and asked coldly.

…

On the eve of the camp, there were spies in the barracks, intending to attack Li Mu.

The spy tried to escape, and when he fought with Li Mu, he attracted sentries.

Yang Xuan was awakened from his sleep and rushed over. When he learned of what had happened, he was furious. While appeasing Li Mu, he sent someone to search the barracks so that no fish slipped through the net.

In the end, almost the entire military camp was shocked.

Although the spy has committed suicide, the matter is not over.

Somehow, news quickly spread that this killer should be sent by the Gao family.

As for the reason, it is obvious that it is naturally unwilling to fulfill the promise made to the people of the world that day.

If Li Mu died, the Gao family would naturally not have to marry their daughter to a dead person.

Not only Li Mu's battalion was very angry, but even Yang Xuan was extremely dissatisfied. Seeing the indignation of the camp soldiers, they went to Xu Situ to find justice for General Li, and did not stop him.

Before dawn, the news of the riot in the military camp reached the imperial palace and also to Gao Qiao's ears.

Emperor Xingping urgently summoned Gao Qiao into the palace with a solemn expression.

He also said that now the people of Jingkou also know that the Gao family is going to marry their daughter to Li Mu, and everyone is looking forward to it. If this news spreads to Jingkou again, I am afraid it will lead to civil unrest.

The emperor finally said that he originally understood the difficulties of the eldest princess, and did not want to force his niece to marry Li Mu. But I didn't expect that something like this happened again last night, and I was really helpless, so I asked Gao Qiao how to solve it.

Gao Qiao could only kneel down and pray for sin, saying that he would like everything to follow His Majesty's arrangement.

"The most urgent task is to refute the rumors first, so as to calm people's hearts. How to refute the rumors, Gao Ying should know better than me?"

The emperor sighed, his tone full of helplessness.

…

Gao Qiao came out of the palace and immediately rushed to Bailuzhou.

At this moment, Xiao Yongjia naturally knew the news.

She stared at her niece who was kneeling in front of her, kowtow and weeping, and her hands and feet became cold.

She had an ominous omen.

Because of the arrival of this niece and the unexpected accident that followed, this time, it is very likely that she really can't keep her daughter.

There was a sudden sound of rapid footsteps outside.

Xiao Yongjia heard the footsteps of her husband's arrival.

His footsteps were full of anger.

"Auntie, please, just say you don't know! Don't tell my uncle that it's me. I just want to help Ami. I didn't expect such a thing to happen—"

Gao Yongrong cried so hard.

Xiao Yongjia's face was dull, and he brushed his hands.

Gao Yongrong kowtowed to her, hurriedly got up from the ground, wiped his tears, and left in a hurry.

Gao Qiao took a big step and crossed the threshold.

Xiao Yongjia got up in a hurry before going to meet him, but when he looked up, he saw that he had stopped there.

He did not come again. Only two eyes full of anger, like sharp swords, shot straight at him.

As if being scalded by the fire, Xiao Yongjia shrank back and stopped. He didn't dare to lean over for a while, and just looked at him staring at him like this. The anger from the beginning slowly turned into disappointment and disgust.

"Princess, you have disappointed me too much. I didn't expect that you would do such a stupid thing again! I heard that you sent someone to Jingkou to threaten Li Mu's mother?"

The whole body seemed to be soaked in ice water, and the thin chill slowly penetrated into the skin, until it penetrated into the bone marrow and reached the bones.

Xiao Yongjia's heart slowly sank and became cold.

Since that day, after crying in her husband's arms, these days have come to her heart from time to time, and some kind of hope that made her unconsciously look forward to it like a girl has disappeared without a shadow.

Her expression gradually became cold and hard, and finally raised her beautiful and delicate chin, and said coldly: "I have killed people before, but now I only kill one more, what can I do?"

"Good! Good! You are the eldest princess, I can't detain you, you can do whatever you want. But you know, just because you only kill one more person, Ami will get married! You are the least willing to marry that person. people! Are you satisfied with this?"

Gao Qiao's face turned blue with anger, and his voice trembled slightly.

Xiao Yongjia gritted his teeth and said, "Whoever dares to take my daughter away, I will fight him!"

Gao Qiao laughed in anger: "Your Majesty has made a decree, and the wedding date is next month. Are you going to fight with him?"

Xiao Yongjia's face turned pale, and he raised his feet and walked out quickly. Gao Qiao grabbed his arm and forcibly dragged him back.

"Where are you going?" he roared angrily.

"I'm going to find that Li Mu! I want to see, what the **** is he that dares to take my daughter!"

Xiao Yongjia's eyes were red, and she struggled desperately, but her arm was clamped tightly by her husband's hand like iron clamps. How could she break free? One became ruthless, lowered his head and bit his wrist.

Gao Qiao was in pain, but he forcibly endured it, and only said sharply: "You bitch! If you make trouble again, believe it or not, I will shut you up!"

"You conscienceless old man! I've been married to you for so many years, and you treat me like this—"

Xiao Yongjia suddenly lost his voice, let go of her husband's wrist that had been bitten with faint blood marks, and fell to the ground, covering his face and crying.

After crying twice, I heard a young girl's voice say, "Aye! Aniang! My daughter is willing to marry her! My daughter will live well! Please, please stop arguing!"

Xiao Yongjia stopped, raised his head, and saw Luoshen dressed in a pale green shirt, like an autumn begonia in the wind, standing there with his hands on the door frame, a pair of belts around his waist, fluttering in the wind like butterflies.

She was pale, but her expression was extremely solemn. Slowly, he knelt down, and kowtowed to himself and Gao Qiao outside the threshold.