General Qin

It's dark at night, and the clear ringing of bells echoes on Xianyang Avenue.

Between the rolling wheels, two people were sitting in the spacious and comfortable carriage.

"How do you feel today? All the ministers are full of praise for you."

Zhao Tuo looked at Han Xin, whose face was red and there was still the smell of alcohol in his mouth and nose.

Han Xin did not have a residence in Xianyang, and he was a disciple of Zhao Tuo, so he naturally followed him to the Hou Mansion.

However, this is only temporary. Han Xin's title has reached the level of right concubine, and nobles can no longer live in Zhao Tuo's house. Doing so will violate taboos and leave people with excuses. After settling down for a certain period of time, Han Xin will establish another Mansion.

Hearing Zhao Tuo's question, Han Xin shook his head and dispelled some of the drunkenness: "Others praised me, maybe because of my meritorious service, Han Xin, but more importantly, they valued my relationship with the king and wanted to get closer to the king through me. Hou, this is not a happy event."

"Oh, you can see clearly."

Zhao Tuo was slightly surprised.

He originally thought that Han Xin would be proud of being toasted and praised by all the ministers tonight, but he didn't expect that Han Xin himself understood very well.

Han Xin said: "With the monarch and his great achievements in front of me, Han Xin has only made small achievements. How can he be proud and complacent?"

Zhao Tuo laughed dumbly.

He understood that Han Xin regarded himself as a benchmark and always compared himself with himself to suppress his pride.

Just like when Zhao Tuo kept General Li in his heart, he always warned himself not to be proud and complacent.

After laughing, Zhao Tuo joked again: "You are not young anymore. I think Prime Minister Wang and the Imperial Censor are all interested in you tonight. There must be a beautiful girl in their clan, so you might want to consider it." "

"Xin understands."

Han Xin responded, but his tone clearly didn't care.

While the two were talking, the carriage had stopped.

The charioteer outside the carriage said: "Jun Hou, the Hou Mansion has arrived."

After Zhao Tuo got out of the car, he saw the door of the mansion wide open and decorated with lanterns, which looked particularly gorgeous and bright in the night.

"We sincerely welcome the Marquis of Zhenguo back to his home."

The servants and maids in the mansion stood on both sides of the mansion gate, greeting each other respectfully.

Zhao Tuo nodded, looking past the welcoming servants, and saw three figures standing in front of the door.

Under the shadow of the lamp, the beautiful woman has a plump figure and a soft face, looking closely at herself.

On both sides of her, there was a boy and a little girl aged 16 or 7.

"Father!"

Zhao Che pulled his sister forward and saluted respectfully.

"Father."

Zhao Yun also called out, but looking at Zhao Tuo's appearance, she still seemed a little curious and unfamiliar.

Zhao Tuo was in a daze.

When he left home, Zhao Che was only five years old and Zhao Yun was more than one year old. In the blink of an eye, five years later, the two children have changed drastically.

"Yes, I have grown up."

Zhao Tuo smiled and hugged the two children, and then took the gifts he brought back from Baiyue from his entourage, including Yue-style ornaments and toys carefully carved from ivory and rhino horn.

The two small gifts immediately drew into the relationship between father and son. Zhao Tuo patted their faces and walked towards his wife who had been waiting for him.

Han Xin walked up and smiled at Zhao Che: "Che'er has grown so big in a flash, do you still remember me?"

Zhao Che looked at him and suddenly laughed: "Why don't you remember? I've knocked you on the head."

The smile instantly solidified on Han Xin's face.

He rolled his eyes and looked at the pretty little girl next to him.

"Is this Yun'er? I've hugged you before."

Just when Han Xin was joking and chatting with the two children.

Zhao Tuo has walked to Ying Yinman.

The beauty's beautiful eyes are like water, full of tenderness.

"came back?"

"came back."

Just two sentences, one question and one answer.

It’s not that there is nothing to say, but this is not the place to talk.

There are thousands of words to talk about, and the passion is so intense that we can only talk to the end on the couch in the house.

An hour later.

On the couch in the house, the two hugged each other, enjoying the most rare time in several years.

Suddenly, Ying Yinman thought of something, stood up, wrinkled her beautiful eyebrows, and sneered at Zhao Tuo: "What a general, a prince, and he used the trick of pretending to be sick again, do you know that The news frightened me so much that I couldn’t sleep for several months.”

Zhao Tuo hurriedly complained: "I am really sick, why did I pretend to be sick?"

Ying Yinman didn't believe it: "The way you acted just now, how did you look like you were sick?"

Zhao Tuo was calm and pointed to his heart with an innocent look: "It's absolutely true, I'm sick here."

Ying Yinman snorted: "What disease? Heart disease?"

Zhao Tuo nodded: "It is indeed a heart disease, and the disease is called lovesickness. Only one person in the world can cure me."

"Nonsense, you said some embarrassing words again."

Ying Yin's cheeks are flushed, her teeth are biting her lips, and her eyes are moist.

Zhao Tuo chuckled and said: "The dose of medicine was a little less just now, and it was not enough to cure the disease. I need to take medicine."

As he said that, he was already a pervert and pounced on him.

…

"Zhao Tuo has become a worry for me."

In the dark of night, in a large house in Xianyang City, Li You was wearing a wide robe, sitting cross-legged, in a breathing posture.

But his heart couldn't calm down, and various scenes from today's day kept flashing through his mind.

The triumphant song stirred up the journey, and the crowd cheered. The prince greeted him in the suburbs, and the king met at the city gate.

With unparalleled achievements, he was granted the title of marquis and ruled the country.

This kind of honor is what Li You has always wanted since he joined Lang Wei.

It's a pity that the world has its way. After nearly ten years of hard work and battlefield battles, in the end, all Li You got was the name of a defeated general and a broken body.

"I have an odd destiny."

In the past few years of practice, Li You has looked away from the bad fate he was born with. He has lost his old resentment mentality and learned to accept it and even take the initiative to study it.

He even studied classics such as "Lianshan" and "Gui Zang" with a calm mind, and combined it with cultivating immortals to deduce and study the evolution of destiny, and learned a lot about it.

He had already let go of the past.

But the return of General Zhao Tuo today caused Li You's originally peaceful heart to stir again.

He left the mansion that he had not walked out of for a long time, and among thousands of people, silently watched the young man enjoy the glory that he could only dream of in his dreams.

Li You was confused.

Once the mind is in a state of confusion, it can no longer be calm.

From this victory ceremony, he thought of the past, wars, princesses, and Li You thought of all the intersections between him and Zhao Tuo.

"If I don't resolve it, I will be trapped in my mental illness forever."

Li You gritted his teeth, stood up, walked to the case, wrote a greeting note with his intact hand, and called his servants.

"Early tomorrow morning, send this greeting card to the Marquis of Zhenguo's Mansion,"

…

On the second day after returning home in triumph, Zhao Tuo had a rare sleep.

He didn't wake up until three o'clock in the morning when the skylight shone into the house from the window.

His body was still weak, but Zhao Tuo felt refreshed. All the lust he had accumulated in Baiyue over the past few years was released, which really made him feel very comfortable.

"My title has reached its highest level. Even if there are other wars in the future, I will not be allowed to go there again. From now on, I can enjoy the good life of my wife and children in Xianyang."

Zhao Tuo stretched out and saw no one next to him. It seemed that Ying Yinman had gotten up early and did not disturb him.

"She worked really hard last night."

Zhao Tuo smiled and got up to get dressed.

Perhaps the emperor felt pity for his hard work and wanted him to rest for two days, so he set the time for the court meeting the day after tomorrow.

However, Zhao Tuo won the victory and returned home, but had not yet taken up any position in the court. He basically had nothing to do in the past two days. He planned to spend all his time with his wife and children, enjoying the happiness of husband and wife and the love of family.

The ministers in the court also knew this truth, and no one invited or disturbed him at this time, which made Zhao Tuo breathe a sigh of relief.

But he had been waiting in his heart for the emperor's summons.

"Will you order me to enter the palace today?"

Zhao Tuo's expectation did not receive a response from the emperor, but instead he received a greeting card that surprised him.

At that time, Zhao Tuo was playing with Ying Yinman and their children by the pool in the mansion.

When he heard that the servants reported that Li You, the chief of the right concubine, sent someone to send a greeting card, before Zhao Tuo could reply, Ying Yinman's eyebrows were already standing straight up.

"Li You? My beloved, don't want to see him, just refuse him."

Zhao Tuo smiled, took the greeting card handed over by his servant, and opened it to read.

Although Brother Li is a bit unlucky, he is still a good person.

Ying Yinman said unhappily: "Everyone in the court knew that my beloved had returned to Xianyang for the first time and needed to rest for two days, but none of them came to disturb him. Only Li You came to visit at this time. It was really rude. Moreover, this man was one of the rarest people in the world. Even my father was injured by him. It is better for my beloved not to see him, in case he..."

"Brother Li is leaving."

Zhao Tuo sighed softly: "He said that he wanted to pursue the path of immortality. He wanted to say goodbye to me and go into seclusion in the mountains. He would never be born again. He also hoped that I could help him cut off his worldly thoughts."

"Huh? He's leaving?"

Ying Yinman was stunned for a moment, then laughed happily: "That's great. He lives in Xianyang. Che'er and I didn't dare to walk through the street where his mansion was when we went out, so we could only take a detour. Li You If we leave once, we won’t have to take a detour in the future.”

Zhao Tuo was shocked.

Only then did I know that the house where Li You lived had become a forbidden area in Xianyang City.

It is said that people who walked there were either chopping vegetables with their hands, or they were falling and tripping while walking, or their husbands and wives were quarreling constantly, and their children were crying at night. All kinds of rumors became more and more sinister and evil as they spread.

Even the ministers of the court did not dare to pass by there. There were empty houses within one mile of Li You's residence, no one inhabited them.

It stands to reason that this situation has had an extremely bad impact on Xianyang City, and the best way is to let Li You move to another place.

But it happened that Li You, in addition to being the eldest son of Prime Minister Li Si, was also a major contributor to Pengcheng's rescue. At a critical moment, he used his shoulder to block the assassin's spine for the emperor. Li You's shoulder rebounded and then he hit the emperor's chariot). In this case, no one dared to mention this matter.

As for the emperor, since Pengcheng returned and rewarded Li You, he no longer talked about this person, treating it as a taboo.

The emperor is like this, and so are all the ministers.

Who dares to mention it?

Who dares to provoke?

It’s better to take a detour.

Li You has become a taboo existence in Da Qin.

From the prince, princess, officials and ministers to the common people and servants, no one dared to pass by Li Mansion.

Zhao Tuo felt funny when he heard Ying Yinman's vivid description of Li You's horror.

If your husband and wife quarrel and the child cries at night, it can be blamed on Li You. Does that mean that having nightmares at night is also Li You's problem?

"Brother Li wants to leave the mortal world and wants to see me one last time. How can I refuse this?"

Zhao Tuo shook his head.

Compared with Li You's theory of fate and misfortune, he paid more attention to Li You's cultivation of immortality.

"I have tinkered with this thing of cultivating immortals in advance. With the fanning of guys like Lu Sheng and Xu Shi, it seems to have become popular all over the country. We can no longer let it grow wildly. I will take a look first, and then I will find a way to restrain it. "

Zhao Tuo comforted Ying Yinman and agreed to Li You's visit.

It's afternoon

Outside the Zhenguo Hou Mansion, a carriage stopped.

Li You got out of the car and saw the spacious and luxurious mansion in front of him, especially the huge word "Martial Arts" on the plaque, and a complicated look flashed in his eyes.

Now it is still about martial arts. In a few days, when the plaque for the Marquis of Zhen Guo is completed, the mansion will look even more noble and majestic.

"Zhao Tuo deserves this."

Li You took a deep breath, quickly adjusted his mood, and strode forward to make the announcement.

"Brother Li is here, please come in quickly!"

To Li You's expectation, upon hearing his arrival, Zhao Tuo actually came out to greet him in person, especially his affectionate tone, which made Li You feel a little dazed.

"I came here presumptuously and disturbed the Marquis of Zhenguo. Please forgive me for this."

Li You bowed and saluted.

Zhao Tuo noticed that one of his shoulders was sunken and his arms were hanging down softly.

I think those were the injuries left from the battle at Pengcheng.

Zhao Tuo sighed: "What did Brother Li say? When I first entered the palace, Brother Li treated me very well. I will always remember this in my heart."

He was telling the truth. If he hadn't been a lieutenant under Li You back then, how could he have gotten in touch with Ying Yinman so easily.

If it were anyone else, he might not be as easy to fool as Li You. Maybe he would find someone who was careful and report it to the superiors, and Zhao Tuo would be finished.

Zhao Tuo invited Li You into the house and asked him to serve melon and fruit cakes. The two talked about their past conversations.

But in fact, the two of them are not friends. In fact, their interaction only lasted a little time in the palace, and they were only casual acquaintances. After leaving the palace, they became competitors, so there was no friendship to talk about.

You can't talk about work, you can't talk about women, and you can't talk about war.

Even the matter of cultivating immortals was not easy for Zhao Tuo to mention. Before Li You came, he inquired about it and found out that Li You cultivated immortality in order to change his life. When he mentioned this matter, he would inevitably talk about "Shu Qi".

Li You was so miserable that Zhao Tuo didn't want to rub salt into his wounds.

You can't say this, you can't say that. After a few words, the two grown men successfully silenced each other.

But soon, Zhao Tuo discovered that Li You's eyes had been staring at his face, and his gaze was very strange.

This is not polite.

Zhao Tuo frowned and said, "Brother Li?"

Li You was startled, came to his senses, and said hurriedly: "I was at a loss. Please forgive me."

Zhao Tuo shook his head and said: "Nothing, it's just that Brother Li said that he will go back to the mountains and forests to practice. I don't know where he will go?"

Li Youlue pondered for a moment and said softly: "Where is Zhongnan? There are plum blossoms everywhere. A gentleman is the only one who wears brocade clothes and fox fur. I used to yearn for Zhongnan Mountain, and I may practice there in the future."

Zhao Tuo nodded silently.

The situation became awkward again.

Fortunately, Li You's goal seemed to have been achieved, so he stood up and left without making any more requests.

After Zhao Tuo sent Li You out of the house, he felt a little strange.

Did Li Youlai really want to see him just to take a look at him?

The answer is exactly that.

When Li You got on the carriage, Zhao Tuo's face appeared in front of him again.

"That's it, that's it. His destiny is very special. The idea of ​​changing one's destiny against the will of heaven is not a lie. If I study further, I may be able to change my destiny in the future."

Li You murmured to himself.

After several years of practice, he has not developed any magical power or spiritual energy, but after painstaking study, he has made great progress in fortune telling and other aspects.

He came to see Zhao Tuo just to see what this man's fate was.

How could Zhao Tuo have such a glorious life and get what Li You wanted but couldn't.

Now, Li You has the answer.

Zhao Tuo will no longer bother him.

The carriage rolled and drove towards the outside of Xianyang City.

Li You's mother passed away several years ago.

As his father, Zuo Prime Minister Li Si had already rejected his visit.

The hypocritical smile when his younger brother met him flashed through Li You's mind without leaving any trace behind.

From then on, Li You will truly cut off all worldliness and devote himself to cultivating the way of destiny.

Zhongnan Mountain is his final destination.

The endings of Li You and Zhang Liang will be echoed in the extra chapter of the last chapter "Two Thousand Years Later".

That’s it for tonight. The next plot point is the collapse of the emperor.