"Master, I'm back..."

Xi An said in a low voice in front of Lin Qingbai.

Xi An grew taller, taller.

When he was fourteen years old, his stature was about the same as Lin Qingbai's, but now he was standing in front of Lin Qingbai, his chin was just over the top of Lin Qingbai's head, a full head taller than Lin Qingbai.

The little baby fat on Xi An's face when he was a teenager is gone. His eyes are sharp and his mandible is clearly defined. He already has the appearance of a mature man.

It seems like nothing has changed.

He was standing very close to Lin Qingbai, and the hot air he exhaled lingered on Lin Qingbai's cheeks, making Lin Qingbai's cheeks feel hot.

Lin Qingbai lowered his eyes and looked at the ground. He still had a calm look on his face, but his heart was already in turmoil, and he didn't know what to say.

At this time, the eunuch next to him stepped forward, handed an imperial decree in his hand to Lin Qingbai, and said, "Lord Yun, read the decree."

Only then did Lin Qingbai come back to his senses, and raised his hand to accept the imperial decree.

Xi An took two steps back, waved off his robe and armor, and knelt down on one knee in front of Lin Qingbai in front of countless people in the capital.

Then the thousands of soldiers behind him got off their horses and knelt down one after another. The blackness seemed to be overwhelming, and it was only magnificent.

The people and courtiers behind him were also silent.

The prince himself read out the emperor's imperial decree, which was unprecedented in the Fu Dynasty since its founding.

Lin Qingbai was thin, standing alone at the gate of the city, wearing a white robe with swinging sleeves, giving him a light fairy air, and the crimson cloak hanging lightly on his shoulders was just a touch of color.

"By God's fortune, the emperor's edict said, Mingwei general Xi'an, brave and good at fighting, utterly loyal, fought with great victories in the Red Ridge, in order to secure the country and protect Qianzhou. I am very commendable.This is it."

Xi An raised his hands high, and replied in a deep voice: "My minister, Xi An, accept the order."

Lin Qingbai stepped forward in two steps and put the imperial decree in his palm.

"Thank you, my lord." Xi An held the imperial decree tightly in his hand.

"Congratulations to General Xi!!!"

"Congratulations, General Xi Xi!!!"

At that moment, the courtiers all bowed to congratulate, and the voices of the surrounding people exploded with a coax.

Amidst the congratulations from the courtier Qi Tian, the common people said, "It is the general of the town army! General Xi is eighteen years old and he is the general of the town army!"

"And he is also in command of the Southern Camp. Now the emperor has handed over half of the capital to General Xi."

"What's all the fuss about? General Xi led a hundred thousand troops in Qianzhou to fight against the Red Sea. Maybe he didn't pay much attention to Nanying at all."

"General Xi is a young talent. He went to Qianzhou at the age of fourteen, and he dared to fight with the bare bones. This kind of bravery deserves the title of general of the town army!"

"That's right, so many soldiers went to Qianzhou back then, but they failed to subdue the red scorpion."

 …

Some people think that Xi'an still needs experience at a young age, and it is too much to get such a reward in one step.

But some people think that these are what Xi An deserves, which can only show that the emperor is a generation of Mingjun who reuses talents.

This is why the emperor specially arranged for Lin Qingbai to recite the imperial decree in front of thousands of people at the gate of the city.

But no matter how loud the voice was behind him, Lin Qingbai seemed not to hear it. He didn't even read the imperial decree in his heart, but his mind was in a trance.

He looked down at Xi An receiving the imperial decree, stood up and took a step in front of him, held his wrist as in the past, and helped him to the front of the carriage.

What was different from the past was that Xi An could not get into the carriage with Lin Qingbai this time, and could only watch Lin Qingbai step into the carriage step by step.

Lin Qingbai stood on the platform, looking back at him.

Xi An stood under the carriage, bowed his hands respectfully and said: "Please go to the palace first, and I will follow you on horseback."

Lin Qingbai's hands trembled slightly in the sleeve robe.

Xi An's voice also changed a lot.

When leaving four years ago, his voice was still

With the clarity of a young man, but now his voice is deep and deep.

During these years in the killing field, the boyishness of his body was polished away, his smooth skin was roughened, and his voice was also worn out to a deep and mature voice that only belongs to a man.

Hearing Xi'an's voice, Lin Qingbai felt his delicate heart, as if rolling gently in the sand, itching, causing the tip of his heart to tingle and tremble.

Lin Qingbai rolled his Adam's apple, said "yes" in a soft voice, then opened the curtain and got into the carriage.

The journey was very lively. In order to see the demeanor of General Xi, the people in the city crowded the streets, people and cars crowded, and Lin Qingbai's carriage was blocked several times.

The guards tried to dissuade him to no avail, and they couldn't use force, so even the groom shouted at the top of his voice.

"Let it go! Let it go!"

"Everyone! Please step aside!"

"Please make way, everyone!!!"

Sitting in the carriage, Lin Qingbai heard harsh and noisy voices outside, but she didn't open the curtain to take a look.

"General Xi! It's General Xi!"

"General Xi is really as handsome as the picture in the book!"

"Why are you so moved? General Xi has never been married before, hahahahahaha!"

——This is the shy voice of a woman.

"Daddy, General Xi is so brave and majestic. I want to be like this in the future."

"Then why don't you practice martial arts a lot and read more books. General Xi studied in private schools every day when he was a child, and sometimes he worked hard and often forgot the time to eat. You should learn more and learn from General Xi!"

——This is the childish voice of a child.

Lin Qingbai chuckled subconsciously when he heard this.

When did Xi An ever work hard?

He has always been unable to sit still, except for reading. He went into the water, touched fish, climbed trees and stole eggs. What he did was better than the other. He did not know how many times he sneaked out while studying, which caused Lin Qingbai to worry about it every day.

There were bursts of firecrackers, gongs and drums outside the car, and from time to time bouquets of flowers were accidentally thrown into Lin Qingbai's carriage.

Lin Qingbai suddenly remembered the year when Xi An was six years old. He asked Xi An what he wanted to do in the future?

Xi An was still young at that time, he raised his head and said enthusiastically, "Master, I want to be a great general!"

"Why do you want to be a general?"

"A majestic general! The last time you took me to see General Chu returning to the court, he was wearing a shiny armor, sitting on a big horse, followed by many soldiers, and all the people were cheering for him.Imagine him too."

"Just these?"

"Well...not all of them." Xi An scratched his head and said falteringly: "When I grow up, I still want to protect Master. If I am very skilled in martial arts and become a general, I will definitelyThen you can protect Master..."

But now Xi An has done it.

He is also like General Chu back then, even worse than General Chu.

The warriors returned to the court, and the heroic achievements spread throughout the Fu Dynasty, while Xi'an rode on a tall horse, followed by thousands of soldiers, all the people were cheering for him, and the whole city was full of flowers..

He is the great hero of Fu Dynasty.

 …

"My lord, the palace is here, please get off."

After an unknown amount of time, the voice outside the car interrupted Lin Qingbai's thoughts. Lin Qingbai opened his eyes and let go of his tightly clenched hands.

His palms were already full of sweat, Lin Qingbai wiped the sweat on his knees, stood up and got out of the carriage.

The carriage had already entered the palace and stopped in the open space in front of the palace.

Lin Qingbai looked back subconsciously, there was no Xi An's army behind his carriage, only a few carriages.

Lin Qingbai felt a sudden emptiness in his heart, but he also understood that Xi'an's status is different now.

Before, he was just a young apprentice of Lin Qingbai, who could follow Lin Qingbai all the time, coming and going as he wanted.

But now he is a great general who can sit on an equal footing with Lin Qingbai. He holds the military power in his hands and has won the hearts of the people. Even the emperor has to be polite to him.

Today he is the host of this palace banquet

You need to wear armor to enter the main hall, meet the Holy Majesty, and then come to the banquet hall.

These are all different from Lin Qingbai.

Lin Qingbai's eyes lightened a little, and he followed the servants into the palace.

At noon, all the officials had already sat down, and the prince and princess also sat in the upper seat. The emperor walked out of the apse, and the hall was instantly silent.

Xi An was the last to walk up to the hall.

After saluting the emperor under everyone's attention, he sat opposite Lin Qingbai, in the position of chief minister.

The emperor was in a good mood today. He raised his wine glass, smiled and said to everyone: "Today is the day when General Xi returns to the imperial court. General Xi has achieved great achievements. I don't need to say more. I will lead everyone to toast this glass of wine today.General Jing Xi returns home with a great victory!"

"Great General Jing Xi returns home with a great victory!!!"

The voices of the crowd followed closely behind, and they toasted Xi'an with generosity and loudness.

Xi An raised his wine glass and said in a deep voice, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

After everyone finished drinking the wine in their glasses, amidst the shouts of the eunuchs, the banquet officially began.

The singer and dancer walked into the hall, and the atmosphere was instantly heated, the music was graceful, and the officials exchanged cups and cups.

Xi'an was naturally the center of conversation for everyone.

Lin Qingbai didn't drink any more, just sat on the seat, looking at the opposite side with light eyes.

Not only has Xi An grown up, but he has also become better at drinking in the past few years in the army.

Ministers kept toasting to Xi'an, and said some flattering words to make it close, Xi'an responded with a smile, and after a while, he drank a few glasses of strong wine, but he didn't seem to be half drunk, his eyes were still sober, as usualNo difference.

On the contrary, the ministers who had toasted were swaying and seemed a little drunk.

Lin Qingbai lowered his eyes to pick up the vegetables, but suddenly heard a few voices of discussion coming from behind him.

"Hey, this is the first time I've seen General Xi. Before, I always thought he was a burly warrior. I didn't expect that when I saw him today, he looks like a handsome young man. It's so good-looking."

Lin Qingbai looked sideways, and from the corner of his eye, he saw several princesses discussing in a low voice.

Those princesses were still young, exactly Huaichun's age, and they kept looking at Xi'an's position.

"Why, if you like it, or let the father propose a marriage for you, the father will definitely agree."

"Oh! Don't talk nonsense, General Xi is an important minister in the court, and the emperor will not allow us to mess around."

"It's nonsense, you just say you like him, and you won't marry unless he is the only one! Even though he is an important minister, so what, let him be a son-in-law, and step into the royal family with one foot, so it's not cheap for him."

The princess who said this blushed, and quickly turned to the princess who had not spoken for a long time and said: "I am still young, and I am not good enough for General Xi, but Sister Jing is about the same age as General Xi, and is very suitable."

Princess Qing is the daughter of the current emperor, with a high status and good looks, she is completely different from the daughters of concubines and concubines just now.

And she is now sixteen, the age to be married, and it is rumored that the emperor is also looking for a suitable husband for her.

But Princess Qing turned her head and said flatly: "What are you teasing me for? I don't like him."

Everyone was stunned, followed Princess Qing's gaze, and saw Yue Hui who was sitting opposite.

Yue Hui sat in the lower position of Xi An.

As soon as General Chu passed away, Yue Hui controlled all the power of General Chu in the court. In addition, he was brave and resourceful, and now he is also a rare and talented minister in the court.

But different from the noise around Xi An, he just sat on the seat alone, with his back straight, raised his hand to pick up vegetables, and the beauty Man Wu in front of him didn't even look at him.

Everyone knows that Yuehui has a cold personality, like an ice cube.

Yuehui was also a big celebrity at the state banquet before, and people kept coming forward to greet him and toast him.

But who would have thought that Yue Hui would not take hard and soft words, no matter what good words he said, he didn't even bother to respond, the ministers had been shut down by Yue Hui several times, and now there was no minister willing to talk to Yue Hui.The conversation is polite, and the surroundings are naturally deserted.

Seeing the person Princess Qing was looking at, a little princess behind her chuckled and said, "Why did I forget, Sister Jing has already made up her mind."

Let alone a General Xi, even if there is another General Li, General Yan, Sister Jing will not like it."

These words hit Princess Qing's mind, Princess Qing blushed, turned her face away quickly, and said in a low voice: "Nonsense!"

The princess was having a good time, but she made a comparison: "I think so, although General Xi is good, but he is too sharp, not to mention that he is in the limelight now, and many girls in the capital are staring at him.", it’s not safe, and General Yue looks a lot more restrained, and he is three years older than General Xi......"

Before the princess could finish speaking, the voice stopped abruptly. She saw Lin Qingbai turned her head and was looking at her.

Lin Qingbai's gaze was still clear and indifferent, looking at it without emotion, but the little princess felt chills.

"Huang...Uncle Huang." The princess quickly lowered her head.

The surrounding princesses were stunned, and they all lowered their heads, and shouted, "Uncle Yun."

Lin Qingbai nodded, and said softly: "Today is the state banquet for the emperor to welcome General Xi back to court, princesses, please be careful when speaking."

After finishing speaking, Lin Qingbai turned around leisurely, took a sip of the tea cup with his sleeves up, as if nothing had happened.

But those princesses were covered in cold sweat.

Perhaps it was because General Xi had been so popular in the past four years that they all forgot that there was still a big Buddha, Prince Yun, standing behind General Xi.

Prince Yun is different from other royal nobles. He holds great power and is the emperor's younger brother. He assists the emperor to ascend the throne. He usually doesn't like to laugh.

This time, no one dared to say a word.

At the banquet, although Lin Qingbai and Xi An were sitting opposite each other, there was a wide hall and dancing girls and dancers in between.

Xi An was busy dealing with the emperor and his ministers again.

During the two hours at the banquet, Lin Qingbai and Xi'an hadn't seen each other for four years, but they couldn't say a word.

When the time of Haishi arrived, the ministers were almost drunk, and the banquet broke up.

The people around retreated one after another, the emperor stopped Xi An, and wanted to have a private chat with him.

It was also inconvenient for Lin Qingbai to stay in the palace, so she was helped out of the palace by the eunuchs and got into the carriage along the way.

The servant driving the car asked: "My lord, are you going back to the palace?"

Lin Qingbai lifted the curtain of the car and glanced at the main hall again.

The carriage stopped a little far away, and one could only see the resplendent and magnificent hall in the distance, and the burning candles on the steps, but could not clearly see the situation inside the hall.

Lin Qingbai lowered the car curtain and said, "Wait a little longer."

This wait lasted another quarter of an hour, the cold wind kept blowing in from outside the curtain of the car, Lin Qingbai was holding the stove in his hand and it gradually became cold, but the hall in front of him hadn't seen anyone yet.

The groom asked again: "My lord, it's getting late, it's cold outside, should we go back to the residence first?"

Lin Qingbai glanced out the window again, pinched the car curtain tightly with his fingers and said, "Wait a little longer."

It was another quarter of an hour, and the servants outside the car couldn't stand still anymore. Lin Qingbai looked at the hall in the distance, his eyes darkened, and then he sat back in his seat and said, "Go back to your house."

Back to the mansion, the mansion has long been dressed up by the servants, just to welcome Xi An back to the mansion.

Aunt Lian Liangyaochu and other servants were waiting at the gate of the mansion early in the morning.

The carriage stopped at the entrance of the mansion, the curtain of the carriage was opened, Lin Qingbai walked down from inside, and someone immediately went up to help him.

Everyone was looking forward to it, but they never saw the figure of another person from the carriage again. Seeing that Lin Qingbai was not very interested, everyone wanted to ask but dared not.

Aunt Lian helped Lin Qingbai back to the bedroom.

After Lin Qingbai washed up, Aunt Lian was about to blow out the candle on the case table when Lin Qingbai suddenly said, "Keep it for now."

Aunt Lian paused, puzzled and said: "My lord, it's already late. You've worked hard all day today, so you should take a rest early. It's not too late to do something tomorrow."

Lin Qingbai still said: "Keep it first."

Aunt Lian knew Lin Qingbai's character. Although Lin Qingbai was usually indifferent to everything, she seemed to be indifferent to everything.

They couldn't get into his heart, but if he became stubborn, no one would be able to shake him a bit.

Just like when Xi'an had an accident a few years ago, although Lin Qingbai didn't cry or fuss, just like a normal person, he knelt down in a Buddhist temple for a month, almost killing half his life.No more, and only then did he look forward to his precious apprentice back.

Aunt Lian didn't say much anymore, she bowed out of the bedroom with the dim light on, and closed the hall door.

The hall was empty and silent.

Lin Qingbai lay on the bed and looked at the wall of the roof, feeling restless in his heart and unable to sleep, but he didn't know where the anxiety was.

He simply sat up, picked up the wooden box beside the bed, carefully opened it, and took out a letter from it.

It was Xi An's reply letter to him. The paper of earlier letters had turned yellow. Lin Qingbai wondered if he could fall asleep after reading these letters as before.

But this time was different from before.

Looking at the letters, not only did he not feel sleepy at all, but the anxiety in his heart intensified, so much that his palms were sweating layer upon layer, and the letter paper was stained wet.

After Lin Qingbai realized it, he immediately put down the letter, wiped the sweat from his palms and didn't touch it any more, just stared at the letter with lowered eyes in a daze.

It was already late at night, and suddenly there was a knock on the door.

bang bang bang.

The knock on the door was not loud, as if afraid of disturbing Lin Qingbai, he only knocked twice.

Lin Qingbai was startled, he raised his head, without even asking, he pulled up the white coat on the hanger, covered his shoulders, walked forward quickly, and opened the hall door.

The cold wind outside the palace door burst in with a bang, Bai Xue flew in, suddenly blowing away Lin Qingbai's black hair hanging from his temples, and in less than a second, someone stepped forward, blocking the cold windWhen got down, a familiar feeling came over me.

In the next second, Lin Qingbai was suddenly pulled into a hot embrace.

The faint smell of alcohol rushed towards Xi An's face with the warmth of Xi An's body, tightly wrapping Lin Qingbai in it.

Lin Qingbai's body froze instantly, his eyes widened, his hands hung in the air, he was extremely at a loss.

He's never experienced anything like this...

Although it was often like this when Xi An was a child, he was very enthusiastic when he saw Lin Qingbai, and often rushed over, hugging him without any seriousness.

At that time, Lin Qingbai would not be as helpless as he is now.

But now in front of Lin Qingbai is not a child.

but a man.

A man who has experienced many battles and is physically strong.

Xi An hugged very hard, he hugged Lin Qingbai's back tightly, almost inserting Lin Qingbai into his body.

The cold wind outside the hall blew again, and the dry branches in the distance were swayed here and there, but Lin Qingbai felt that his body was scalded by Xi Anyong's heat.

Xi An was still wearing the armor he had seen him in the morning, standing in front of Lin Qingbai in a dusty manner.

What caught Lin Qingbai's eyes was Xi An's strong and thin neck.

He still didn't get used to the tall Xi An, he was a little at a loss, and pretended to be cold and said: "What are you doing here so late..."

However, before Lin Qingbai could speak, he suddenly stopped.

He felt that Xi An lowered his head and pressed his cheek against his ear temples, Xi An's breathing was a bit heavy.

In Lin Qingbai's ear, he said in a low and hoarse voice, "Master, I miss you so much..."