Just when the little baby was sleeping sweetly in the arms of the old hunter, in the back house of the Yongningguan Commandery in the northwest border, a goshawk circled down from the sky and landed on a window sill. Its sharp beak like a golden hook tapped rapidly on the window lattice again and again.
After only four or five knocks, candlelight lit up in the room, and then the window was pushed open from the inside. The goshawk rushed in with a swish, rolled up a swirl, and pounced towards The one who opens the window.
"Xuan'er? Why are you here? You're naughty again!" A cheerful male voice laughed and scolded, with an unexpected surprise in the voice, waking up the boy who was on duty outside.
"General? Do you have any orders?" The boy did not come in, but asked loudly outside the door.
"It's okay, it's Xuan'er here. Go and get some water for it... Xuan'er, don't make trouble..." A man wearing a moon-white coat responded with a smile, He came to the table and sat down, hugged the goshawk that was forced into his arms, inspected its legs, and said with a smile.
Not only did Goshawk not have a letterbox on his leg, he didn't even wear an anklet. The man frowned slightly and asked slowly: "Xuan'er, why didn't you bring a letter?"
< p> The golden-eyed goshawk suddenly jumped on the table, struggled to raise a talon, and tried to open it. In the center of its talon, there was a small piece of green brocade the size of a child's palm. One end of the brocade was firmly hooked on the sharp edge. On its paws, this is probably the reason why the fragments of green brocade never fell off after it flew for so long."What is this? Xuan'er, what happened at home?" The man took off the piece of cloth, and there was no trace of smile on his face anymore, and his brows were tightly knitted.
Xuan'er is the goshawk he has raised since he was born. He just can't speak, but he is very understanding of human nature. If his wife and children hadn't had an accident in the house, Xuan'er would never be so hasty again. He flew to Yongning Pass all night in panic. You must know that birds have to take great risks when flying at night. Animal instinct does not allow them to do so.
Poor Xuan'er is just a golden-eyed goshawk. No matter how talented it is, it can't speak like a human being. There was obviously something he wanted to tell the master, but he just couldn't bring it out. The anxious Xuan'er scratched the table while "chirping", and in just a few scratches he made a big hole in the thick table.
"Don't worry, don't worry! Xuan'er, drink some water and eat some meat first!" The man quickly stroked the top of Xuan'er's head, full of distressed comfort. He took the fresh water and raw meat brought by the boy and quickly fed it to the eagle.
"After drinking half a glass of water in one breath, Xuan'er finally regained his composure.
"General, isn't Xuan'er at home? Why are you here all of a sudden? Is it at home..." The boy saw that the usually mighty Goshawk was now very haggard and hungry. Looking like this, it's obvious that he didn't even bother to hunt for food on the way. He must have flown here overnight., he couldn’t help but asked eagerly.
The young man also knew very well that Xuan'er was specially kept in the mansion by the general for his wife to contact the general. If it came in such a hurry, something must have happened in the mansion. Let's think about it carefully. Thinking about it, the most likely person in the house to have trouble now is the wife who is about to give birth. Could it be that... the boy couldn't help but gasped!
The man called the general by the boy was none other than Cheng Size, the eldest son of the Zhenbei Hou Mansion. He entered the palace as a companion to Emperor Ningkang, the fifth prince, from the age of four until he was fourteen. He began to guard Yongning Pass with his father Cheng Fuhu, the Marquis of Zhenbei, to fight against the barbarians from the north. It has now been sixteen years.
In the past sixteen years, Miles Si has bravely killed the enemy and made many military exploits. He was promoted from a small lieutenant to a third-rank military general. You can imagine the dangers involved.
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But many ministers in the court just couldn't see how much Emperor Ning Kang loved Cheng Sixe, and they were always looking for trouble. However, Emperor Ning Kang ignored them all, but this also made those The ministers were even more wary of Cheng Size. Cheng Si was therefore extra cautious and refused to let anyone find any faults.
Cheng Si was seriously injured in a battle with the Hu people in the early spring of last year and had to return to Beijing to recuperate. It took him more than half a year to recuperate before returning to Yongning Pass. Not long after returning to Yongning Pass, he received a letter from home and learned that his wife Ning was pregnant again. This was his fourth child, and the first three were all boys.
Both Cheng Size and his wife were looking forward to giving birth to a sweet-smelling and soft little girl. In order to facilitate correspondence with his wife, Cheng Size flew his beloved Xuan'er back to the capital. Usually Xuan'er would fly to Yongning Pass every half month to bring letters from his wife, but this time Xuan'er came just five days ago. Unless there is something urgent, Xuan'er would not fly here now. .
Seeing Xuan'er eating happily, Cheng Si picked up the palm-sized piece of green brocade cloth and looked at it carefully. The more he looked at it, the tighter his frown became.
The tattered piece of cloth could be vaguely embroidered with a lotus pattern. He was very familiar with this embroidery technique. When his wife embroiders flower patterns, she always likes to embroider the petals to make them extra round and plump. It seems that this is the embroidery work done by his wife herself. Something that his wife could embroider by herself...
Could this piece of green brocade be the swaddling clothes that his wife embroidered by herself for her unborn child?
Cheng Si remembered that his wife once told him that she had personally embroidered two swaddling clothes, one red and one green. If it was a little girl, she would use the green one, and if she was a boy, she would use the red one.
Did something happen to the madam? Or something happened to the child? The more Cheng Si thought about it, the more worried he became, and his face turned pale.
"Duanyang, please return to Beijing immediately to pay your respects to Madam... quietly, don't let Madam know..." Cheng Si suppressed all the unbearable speculations in his heart and drank in a deep voice.
Duanyang is Cheng Sixe’s most trusted confidant. He is extremely smart and capable.Since he is not a member of the military, he comes to Yongning Pass just to serve him personally, so he can travel freely between the capital and Yongning Pass. Cheng Si, on the other hand, was in the military and was not allowed to return to the capital without an order. If he returned to the capital without permission, it would be a crime of rebellion. Some adults in the capital were staring at him with wide eyes. He must not live up to his words.
"Yes, general, I will leave now. General, if something really happens, I will..." Duanyang asked in a low voice. Ever since Mrs. Hou passed away and Mrs. Hou became the head of the household, the situation in the house has been... It's really hard to describe!
"Go to Guozi Jijiu House for help." Cheng Size said in a deep voice. Guozijiu House is his in-law's family, and his wife is very favored by her mother's family. If anything happens, Guozijiu House should be able to save his wife and children.
On the contrary, in the Hou Mansion, since his grandmother passed away, there is no one who can suppress his stepmother. For the safety of his wife and children, he does not care about shame.
"Yes, I'll leave now, little one." Duanyang agreed simply, turned around and left.
Duanyang didn't even bother to pack his luggage. He only went back to his room to get some money and identity documents, then went to the stable to pick up two good horses and set off immediately. Changing horses and people along the way, we traveled day and night to the capital. It would take three days and three nights at the fastest to get there.