Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Just after the New Year's Eve, the Zhou Dynasty began to actively prepare for battle in the west. There were businessmen from Tokyo who came and went, talking about the fact that the prefectures were transferring grain to Fengxiang one after another. At the beginning of February, some scholars from Qinzhou traveled thousands of miles to Tokyo, and wrote to the emperor requesting troops to recover Qinzhou and save the people from the fire.

The emperor thought about the suffering of the people in his hometown, so he accepted the request of the scholars in Qinzhou and decided to send troops to the west.

In February, the emperor accepted the recommendation of Wang Pu and other prime ministers, and appointed four people. Take Wang Jing as the main general of the Western Expedition; Xiang Xun led the Zhen'an elite soldiers, Guo Shao led the Guards Division's 12 infantry commanders, and was divided into deputy generals;

Wang Jing waited in Fengxiang, Xiang Xunbing left Zhen'an, Guo Shao and Hakka envoys led the forbidden army out of Tokyo, and people from all walks of life gathered in Fengxiang recently. The next day, Guo Shao went to the Department of Guards and received an order from the Privy Council: to set off in five days.

Li Chongjin, Commander of the Guard Division, and Shi Yanchao, Marquis of Duyu, personally met Guo Shao and the generals of the Hu Jie Army at the official office. The commanders of the First Army and the Second Army of the Hu Jie Army on the left side, and Du Yuhou and other four people verified the Privy Council's troop dispatch order on the spot, and then returned to the barracks to know the whole army...As always, the lower-level soldiers only need to obey orders;

Guo Shao went home first as usual, and while notifying Li Chuyun to meet up, he prepared the accompanying things. Yulian helped him pack his clothes and daily utensils, and he only chose the weapons and armor to bring. One short dagger, two melee barrier knives, and three sets of bows of different strengths. Guo Shao was not good at using long weapons, so he didn't bring them himself. Last time, the inner hall issued a brand new armor, which was the ring lock armor, and he was going to wear this pair when he went out.

Jing Niang asked to follow, Guo Shao was not willing to bring women into the army, but she said that she knew some Taoists in Shu, Guo Shao thought about it and no longer objected.

At this moment, Blacksmith Huang came in and reported: "There is someone outside the door asking to see you. It is a woman who handed this thing in."

Guo Shao took it, and curiously unfolded the rolled paper to see that it was a seven-inch piece of paper with two characters written on it, which Guo Shao could recognize as a semi-blind ancient version: Li Shi. He said casually: "This is called a name post, a door sign." It was really the first time Guo Shao received this thing, Zuo You and other people who came to the door frequently just knocked on the door, and they didn't pay attention to it at all.

Hearing that blacksmith Huang said it was a woman, Guo Shao immediately guessed that it might be Li Chuyun's daughter Li Shi.

Guo Shao took two steps, remembering Li Niang's words when he was in Fengxiang: "I haven't seen each other for thirty-two days, it's like thirty-two years... Xiaoniang is very affectionate, and she is Li Chuyun's daughter. Guo Shao feels that he should see him, so at least he can say something to make her feel relieved."

He was about to ask Blacksmith Huang to invite Li Niang in, but he thought that it would not be good for an unmarried girl to come in alone, so he stuffed the paper in his pocket, turned around and left.

Guo Shao walked out of the gate and saw a carriage leaning on the side of the street, with a groom sitting in front and a maid standing outside. Guo Shao recognized the maid, and was sure that the person who came was Li Chuyun's daughter, so he stepped forward alone and said, "But Li Niang is visiting?"

A crisp voice inside said: "Let's talk in another place."

"There is a shop on the street, and I have eaten there. Is it time for dinner? It must be very quiet upstairs. How about drinking tea and having some snacks in the upper bunk?" Guo Shao said.

Li's voice said: "Listen to Guo Dushi's arrangement."

So Guo Shao walked slowly towards the intersection with the carriage, which was not far anyway. When they walked to the door of the wine shop, Guo Shao fumbled in his bag, took out a whole string of money and handed it to the servant girl: "Buy yourself what you want to eat."

The servant girl's face was filled with joy, she giggled, nodded and said nothing. The waiter in the store was resting lazily on the table. When he found a customer, he couldn't help looking at Li Shi when he raised his head. At this time, the woman was relatively free, and Li Shi was good-looking, but it didn't make people think it was strange.

Guo Shao and Li Shi found a place to sit down and ordered two cups of tea, a portion of fried almonds, and a portion of glutinous rice snacks.

Mrs. Li lowered her head and did not speak, and squeezed the corner of her clothes with her hands. This situation affected Guo Shao, and made him feel a little nervous for no reason. He had never been in love in his previous life, and he had no time or extra money. Such experience only came from Yulian. For a while, his mind was blank, and he didn't know what to say.

At this moment, Guo Shao was not as good as Mrs. Li, but Mrs. Li took the initiative to speak and said embarrassedly: "I sewed two pairs of insoles, one pair for my father and one pair for you. When warriors wear armor, their bodies are heavy, so the insoles should be soft and strong, and ordinary people don't sew such things... I heard that you are going to go to war, so I rushed to give it to you." After she finished speaking, she took out a beautiful pink silk bag.

Guo Shao stood there stunned, not knowing what it was like.

Mrs. Li said again: "Since Guo Dushi has met me, I didn't want to take the initiative to find you again... I feel so humble in front of you, and doing so will make you look down on me; but after all, this pair of insoles took a lot of work."

"No, no." Guo Shao touched his forehead and said hastily, "I'm not saying that I didn't waste my time, but I didn't look down on you. I think..."

After hearing that he didn't finish speaking, Mrs. Li couldn't help asking: "How do you feel?"

Guo Shao got anxious and fidgeted for a while, then pretended to be sophisticated, and said kindly: "Guo heard that Li Niang is quite famous in Binzhou and other places, and there are countless admirers... I just happened to recite a song in Li's house, and I asked you to see it by chance; after that, you and I only masked each other two or three times. I'm afraid that my mother doesn't know what kind of person I am. Most of them are based on my own imagination. When a person has a good impression, of course he thinks everything is good. Some things are just hallucinations. "

"Illusion?" Mrs. Li frowned and thought for a while, "What does Guo Dushi mean by saying these words, is he telling me not to pester you anymore?"

Guo Shao hurriedly said cautiously: "That's definitely not the intention. In fact, I'm too happy to be happy...Which man doesn't feel complacent when he is seen by a beautiful lady?"

Mrs. Li looked puzzled.

Guo Shao felt that he had said a bunch of useless things. He turned his head and found that the branches of trees outside the window were covered with flower buds. He said, "Spring is here. Ancient poets often used falling flowers and running water to describe such feelings. They come and go quickly. Keep the memories, and occasionally think of them in the future. It will be very beautiful; if you are not careful, you will destroy everything, too fragile things."

Mrs. Li followed his gaze to look at the branches, and muttered "falling flowers, flowing water", as if thinking seriously about Guo Shao's words. After a while, she became inexplicably angry: "How can I be so fragile! Come and go quickly, are you trying to say that I am a woman who is easy to change?"

Guo Shao was stunned.

Mrs. Li pushed the beautiful silk bag on the table over and said angrily, "Take it! Just wait, I will let you understand what kind of person I am."

Guo Shao hurriedly said: "Wait!"

"When?" Li Shi opened her eyes wide and looked at him. Guo Shao seemed to be in a bit of a dilemma, and he paused before saying, "It's not that I don't want to accept your favor, and it's not that I don't think you are good. It's just that I can't decide on my marriage for the time being. Could it be that I won't accept your favor, and I will end up in chaos and abandon it in the end? It's better to restrain myself from the beginning. Please forgive me."

... When Li Niang returned to her residence in Tokyo, she was scolded by her mother, but she usually listened to her father Li Chuyun, but she had no fear of her mother. But Li Chuyun was also busy preparing for the expedition, so he didn't care about his daughter.

Li Niang finally couldn't help but ask her father after dinner, "Does Guo Dushi have any parents alive?"

Li Chuyun thought about it, and said: "No. Why are you still thinking about that matter? Last time, Uncle Luo already mentioned that matter. Since Guo Dushi has no thoughts, how can we force others to make things difficult for him?"

After hearing this, Li Niang murmured: "My parents are gone, so I can't decide what to say..."

Li Chuyun stroked his beard, and wondered: "You went to see Guo Dushi? Why can't you decide what to do?" Seeing her daughter's face flushed slightly, Li Chuyun immediately stood up and paced back and forth.

The little mother was very familiar with her father's habits, so she asked casually when she saw this, "What do you think is strange?"

Li Chuyun pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "Last time, Uncle Luo mentioned that Guo Dushi is not only related to the prime minister in Tokyo, but also the empress's servant... Are you sure Guo Dushi himself said that the marriage cannot be decided?"

The little girl frowned, nodded and said, "He said it himself."

Li Chuyun immediately lowered his face, and said seriously: "You are not allowed to go to Guo Du in the future!"

Her father dotes on her very much, not to mention she is also obedient and well-behaved. Seeing her father's unusual expression at this time, she was startled: "What makes father teach me like this?"

Li Chuyun seemed to be impatient, and said with a flick of his sleeves: "Don't worry about the elders' affairs, just listen to your father! What are you thinking in your heart, I can tell at a glance, and you must not go out to pester and abuse you!" Immediately, the eyes of the young lady were filled with tears of grievance, Li Chuyun realized that his words were serious, and took a breath: "Father is also guessing. What are you messing with?"

Seeing that Li Xiaoniang couldn't help crying, Li Chuyun was a little annoyed, and said: "I'm looking for you | Mother, cry, I still have a lot of things to think about."

...

The people in Tokyo made some preparations, and in late February, the army left Beijing. Zan Jurun, the envoy of the Hakka Province, also traveled westward with Guo Shao.

Guo Shao was riding on the horse, and turned his head to look at Yulian in the crowd. She took Dong Sanmei and several female Taoist priests along the street and followed the army, without taking her eyes off Guo Shao for a moment. The reluctance to let go made Guo Shao feel a little uncomfortable. It was probably this time of year last year, and it will be this year.

But Guo Shao didn't think there was anything wrong with him. He thought back to his childhood, when his parents went out to work and only returned home once a year, the situation and feeling of seeing him off seemed vaguely familiar to him now.