Three poles in the sun, Ji Jiu woke up in a daze, he opened his eyes and had a splitting headache. He closed his eyes again and lay motionless, his mind completely blank. It was as if in the chaotic period of heaven and earth, heaven and earth were still a huge egg, and he was the sleeping baby in that egg, ignorant and ignorant. There is no memory, no past, no past, and no future. In a daze, there is peace and joy in the world.

But he wasn't a baby after all. After the hangover was over, the events that had happened drifted through his mind scene by scene. Ji Jiu blinked and woke up completely.

Pulling the quilt and sitting up, Ji Jiu leaned against the head of the bed and lifted the curtain.

The mess that thought would see did not appear in front of eyes. The neat table, the folded official documents, the paper, ink, pen and inkstone, and even the tea cups were placed on the table completely, not in memory. Fragments.

Ji Jiu almost thought that he had hallucinations, and everything was just a dream.

Then, he saw the jar of wine.

It was dug out of the ground, and the soil had not been wiped clean, nor had it been opened. It was like a fruit that was just dug out of the soil, with its innate fragrance, standing upright in the center of the long table.

This is the spring wine he wants. Ji Jiu remembered.

Then naturally remembered the scene where the man secretly went to the yard to drink wine while it was still dark. don't know if it was more funny or more sad.

It's just that his face is still light and light, as if everything has nothing to do with him.

After sitting for a while, he got up, tidied up the bed, took the mattress to dry in the yard, and tore off the soiled brocade and silk cloth, carried a wooden bucket, and went to the river to wash it.

When doing these things, Ji Jiu's face was also indifferent. Only when he lowered his head to scrub the suspicious marks on it, did the back of his ears turn a little red, and he was ashamed and calm.

Since then, Ji Jiu has not seen Yimo again.

Before the waiting emperor Yu came, Ji Jiu also calmed down, drinking and painting, reciting books and building, and the sun rose and the moon set over the small courtyard. A year passed.

Dumb uncle is the one who takes care of him in his daily life. He cleans the yard every day and takes care of his three meals. The only change was that when the spring started this year, Ji Jiu's correspondence became frequent, and almost every few days there were people on fast horses knocking on the courtyard door.

Even though Uncle Du was a countryman, he also knew that the people in this yard were unusual, and if something happened, it was almost military.

One day, the dumb uncle brought a child, fourteen or fifteen years old, with two floppy ears and naive eyebrows, and came to Ji Jiu.

The dumb uncle couldn't speak, so he let the child speak for himself. The child was shy and ruthless. Before he could say anything, his face turned red. Seeing this scene, Ji Jiu understood most of it, and asked, "You came to me, do you want to join the army?"

The dumb uncle shouted "Aah" and nodded. Pointing at the child, then pointing at Ji Jiu, indicating that he wants him to follow Ji Jiu.

Ji Jiu asked him if he had any brothers, the child shook his head, and asked if he had parents, and the child nodded hurriedly.

Ji Jiu then said: "If you join the army with me and die in battle in the future, who will the old mother serve? Who will provide for the old father? Who will inherit the family's incense?

So refused.

The boy's eyes were red and he ran away without saying a word.

The dumb uncle gestured to explain, and Ji Jiu watched it for a while before he realized that the child had an older brother who joined the army five years ago and died later. The relationship between the two brothers was good. The elder brother died. Although the younger brother was young, he was determined to avenge his elder brother.

Ji Jiu was silent, and stood with his hands behind his back for a long time before he said: "Although his brother died, it was for the peace of the people in the city behind him, not for the sake of one person. He joined the army because of personal hatred, abandoned his parents and ignored them. Loyalty is not filial piety, I don’t even want it.”

Dumb opened his mouth, nodded and left.

Little things like this happen occasionally, and then the days go on as usual. But the child stuck to Ji Jiu, ran over every three days, knelt outside the courtyard gate, and waited for Ji Jiu's heart to soften.

But he didn't know that for Ji Jiu, being soft-hearted to him was vicious to his parents. So he ignored it, and let him kneel. Ji Jiu was rarely discharged from the hospital. When encountering such a thing, Ji Jiu is not afraid of being a bad person, and he does it with peace of mind.

It was another summer day, the swifts flew low in the sky, occasionally stopped under Ji Jiu's eaves, fed the young birds, and hurried away.

Ji Jiu looked through the window and looked at the little bird's nest under the eaves, wondering if the young bird would grow up and feed back. After watching this for a long time, he took back what he had done before.

Uncle Du sprinkled water in the courtyard and swept the floor. Occasionally, he would turn his head to look into the open window, only to see a large white sheet of paper on the case, with a lot of red on it. Uncle Du was old and had poor eyesight. It was because he couldn't see exactly what Ji Jiu was painting. Occasionally, when he brought food in, the paper was covered with white silk. Obviously, he didn't want others to see it. But not everyone can hold back their curiosity. Although Dumb Bo is old, his curiosity is as strong as when he was young.

He was always watching secretly, but Ji Jiu was too focused to pay attention. Still looking down.

Mute found that when he was painting, Ji Jiu's expression was stagnant, and even... slightly sad.

Hey, what are you drawing? Dumb Bo hated his old age, and his eyes became more and more useless.

There was a knock on the courtyard door at this time, and Uncle Du hurried to open the door, thinking that he was here to deliver a letter again, and he still held the broom in his hand. The sword, although unsheathed, made the old man tremble, and the broom fell to the ground.

Then four more people came in one after another, all dressed in black, with cold and capable faces, they drove the dumb man aside and formed two teams to wait.

No matter how ignorant the dumb uncle was, he knew that this time it was a big man, so he squatted down, carefully picked up the broom, and shrank behind the door.

Ji Jiu was taking the scrolls away in a hurry, and when he finished the scrolls, the people who were supposed to come from outside the courtyard had already come in.

The emperor dressed up as a scholar, walked into the courtyard and glanced around, and then directed at the closed door, he shouted angrily, "Ji Jiu!"

Only then did the door open, Ji Jiu knelt on the threshold, and responded calmly, "Your Majesty."

The poor dumb uncle who was hiding behind the courtyard door almost gnawed off the broom handle when he heard the phrase "Emperor".

When the emperor entered the house, Ji Jiu got up and closed the door. When there was only a thin line left between the two doors, he saw Shen Jue standing at the courtyard gate looking straight at him through the gap.

Her throat tightened instantly, Ji Jiu lowered her eyes and closed the gap.

Seeing each other after more than a year, the father and son both looked flustered.

Some people, the closer you put them to your heart, the less you know what to do with them.

The emperor sat on the chair where Ji Jiu often sat, flipped through the documents on the table, and then abandoned it to the side, staring at Ji Jiu for a long time, and said, "Have these two years been okay?"

Ji Jiu said, "Okay."

"You haven't been home for two years, why don't you want to?"

"I think." Ji Jiu said.

"I came to see you today," said the emperor.

"Um."

The emperor was a little annoyed, and lowered his face and said, "Are you going to talk to me word by word like this?"

Ji Jiu said, "Don't dare."

The emperor "sneered" and said: "Two words."

Ji Jiu was too lazy to pay attention to him, turned his face to look out the window, the scent of flowers wafted in the air, and the emperor suddenly said, "I haven't eaten locust flower rice for many years."

He thought Ji Jiu would say something, but Ji Jiu raised his eyebrows and asked seriously, "What is that?"

The emperor was choked hard.

After a long while, he said angrily and funny: "Forget it, you know why I came today. You should also know more about the military situation. The Huns have been dispatched. In terms of distance, they should arrive at the city in two months."

Ji Jiu said, "Let the minister go?"

"Otherwise I will go in person?" The emperor asked back.

"I thought that the emperor wanted to give him a good life." Ji Jiu said.

The emperor was silent for a while, and said slowly: "I... may not think so."

Ji Jiu didn't expect him to say this, and was stunned.

"...All these years," the emperor looked at him and said seriously, "you are the only one around." Therefore, I don't want the last person in the world who understands him to disappear like this.

Protecting and keeping it all the time is just a little bit of selfishness of the emperor.

It's just that the soldiers are under the city, this selfishness has to be abandoned, and can only watch the comrades who have come along this way, supporting each other, and embarking on the journey.

Today, he took off his dragon robe and visited in a micro-clothing. He is an emperor, not an emperor. It seems that he is still the prince many years ago, and he can share with his trusted companion.

However, he was already the emperor. King of the world.

The emperor took out the tiger talisman and put it on the table, his voice returned to his arrogant and calm voice, "Go back to the military camp tomorrow, from today onwards, you will be my general."

Ji Jiu was silent for a long time, then said: "My minister, I will not disgrace my mission."

"This time the Huns are dispatched by a large army. If you can repel them, what will happen next..." The emperor raised his eyelids slightly, "The army is not authorized by the emperor's order." Later, he added: "Don't worry about food and grass. "

Ji Jiu lowered his head and drew a shallow arc from the corner of his mouth: "Yes."

Before going out, the emperor suddenly turned around and threw a sentence: "Your adopted son's bodyguard is negligent in his duties outside. I grabbed it and handed it over to you. You should be beaten and punished to deal with it."

went away.

The guard Shen Jue, who was "dereliction of duty", and Ji Jiu, who had been abandoned by the guards for a long time, were left behind. And the dumb uncle who huddled behind the door and stayed there for a long time.

Shen Jue stepped forward and called out tentatively when saluting, "Father..."

The sound was only half-sound, so Ji Jiu cut it off, "Call the general."

Shen Jue lowered his head and said, "General."

"Prepare some dry food and leave tomorrow." Ji Jiu did not hit or punish, as if nothing had happened, he went back to his room.

In the middle of the night, Ji Jiu unfolded the picture scroll, and the peach blossoms were all over the paper, blooming brightly. But not the one painted by Yimo.

In the red sea of ​​flowers, two people overlapped. The man below was covered with peach blossoms, raised his head and squinted slightly. At first glance, he looked like a man, but he carried a hint of charm. The legs are lifted and wrapped around the waist of the man on the body. The man above lowered his head, his long hair scattered, covering his face, with only the curve of his waist, squeezed between the legs of the person below him.

Actually having sex.

The love affair in the colorful flower sea, but there is no obscenity in the slightest, only indescribable tenderness.

Ji Jiu picked up the pen, added eyes to the man's face, and traced the nose and lips.

It was a face exactly like his.

But it was clearly not him.

The petals were scattered all over the place, spread out on the ground, and folded into the sky again. The boundless bright red was dazzling and dazzling, but when it landed on the two of them, it was peaceful and peaceful.

The painting is titled "Hometown".

Ji Jiu looked at the painting for a long time. Finally, took another piece of paper, unfolded it, pondered for a moment, and wrote again, but it was the most concise brush and ink. drew a grave, with a monument in front of the tomb, and overgrown grass on the grave.

That is the general's grave.

Also called "Hometown".

After closing the scroll, Ji Jiu brought the brazier, and spent more than a year of hard work.

On the second day, everything was sorted out.Shen Jue led the horse and waited outside the courtyard gate.

Ji Jiu was in the room, standing beside the bed, not knowing what to think of, the loneliness in his eyes was obvious.

In the end, he lowered his body, leaned his face against the other soft pillow beside the pillow, and sniffed the fragrance left behind by that person.

It is also the same, warm and tender.On the picture scroll of not losing and burning, the person with the same face as him.

Emer is there.Hidden figure, standing far away.With his temperament, he should have come out to make fun of him.

However, he didn't move, he just watched quietly, watching the man with his eyes closed, sniffing the soft pillow he had slept on on the bed.

Looking at what he couldn't say, he was so affectionate.

After a while, Ji Jiu straightened up, his face was as indifferent as usual, he raised his sword and walked out.

A lock locked everything that happened in this courtyard, and everything that happened too late.