Chapter 188: Solo, the same death, the same ennui.

Shi Tingyun was six years old when he first arrived at the Imperial Household, more than three months older than Yan Yuanheng, the thirteenth prince, whom he served.

At the end of the school day, Dr. Shi Tingyun stood by the window and collected the ink for Yan Yuanheng.

Eight-year-old Sixth Prince Yan Yuanzhao lies on his stomach at the window to see what's new, followed by the lowly little Qu Ying.

Yan Yuanzhao: "Hey, hey, are you the big Gong Zi of the Toki family?"

Shi Tingyun dropped down, uninhibited: "Yes."

Yan Yuanzhao chimed in further, "Shi Tingyun, which three words?"

Shi Tingyun replied with a smile, "Back to the Sixth Prince, Tingyun icy, rainy."

"Brother Yun." Yan Yuanzhao already knew his name and said cordially, "I have some delicious pastries here, they are from the western region, besides father, I am the only one in the palace who has them. Do you want to come and eat?"

"Thank you for the Sixth Prince's kindness ......"

Shi Tingyun raised his eyes to Yan Yuanheng, who was still asking questions, whispered a few words into the ear of the other companion, who had returned from coiling his brush, and, despite his whispered discouragement, said, "I'll be right there."

He went out of the window so swiftly and silently that he didn't even attract Yan Yuanheng's attention.

Yan Yuanheng finished asking the Doctor a question, only to find that only one of his two new companions was left, and that the remaining one was looking at him in fear, clutching his bag of books.

Hearing him talk about Shi Tingyun being called away by the Sixth Imperial Brother, Yan Yuanheng was not too angry.

Yan Yuanheng had long heard of Shi Tingyun's name.

He was the only son of General Shi Jinghong, a bright and intelligent man with high hopes from his father. Even his father favored him, giving him food and gifts at festivals to show how much he was valued.

Besides, it was the Sixth Brother who called him away, so it was useless for him to be angry.

Yan Yuanheng sighed slightly, and just as he went out the door, he saw Shi Tingyun running quickly with a few pastries in his handkerchief, and when he saw the Thirteenth Prince, he grabbed his hand, "Thirteenth Prince, long time waiting. Please come this way."

Yan Yuanheng, who had always acted in a dignified and strict manner, was pulled to a standstill, and in a confused manner he joined him in the corridors of the Imperial College and circled around for a long time, leaving the other young companion a long way behind.

Waiting until they reached a small pavilion with a pleasant view, Shi Tingyun stopped, kneeled down on one knee, and presented the pastries held firmly in his hand to Yan Yuanheng: "Please, Thirteenth Prince, use the pastries."

Yan Yuanheng stood on his feet, slightly out of breath, "This is Sixth Imperial Brother's?"

Shi Tingyun frankly said, "Yes, it was an invitation, I brought some, the 13th prince got in too little for lunch, just the right amount to pad his stomach."

Yan Yuanheng stared at the dim sum and pursed his lips, "I'm not hungry."

But the aroma of the pastries stimulated a stomach that had long been empty, and Yan Yuanheng let out a muffled gurgle in his belly.

His face went mostly red all of a sudden.

Shi Tingyun stood up and recommended with a smile, ''During lunch, I saw that the 13th prince loves sweet food. Tingyun tried them one by one, and these three pastries are the sweetest. Is the Thirteenth Prince really not going to try them?"

Yan Yuanheng inclined his face, not wanting to appear too greedy, "What is it that the Sixth Imperial Brother seeks you for?"

"He didn't say." Shi Tingyun fiddled with the lace of the handkerchief in his hand, "Zuo only gave me some favors, asking me to be his companion, adding a helping hand for him."

The children in the palace were the most precocious, not to mention Yan Yuanheng, who had been influenced by his mother's lessons and had grown up to be cautious.

He was shocked and rushed to cover his mouth, "Keep your voice down! Don't talk nonsense!"

Shi Tingyun then stopped talking and held up the handkerchief in his hand, signaling him to use it quickly.

Yan Yuanheng, however, put away the pastries and said in all seriousness, "You should not abuse sweets before meals, it will spoil your appetite."

Shi Tingyun gave a smile, "That will be left for after the meal."

At that time, Yan Yuanheng, no matter how cautious he was, was only a child.

He hesitated in his mind for a long time before he opened his mouth and asked Shi Tingyun before they parted that day, "Will ...... you go."

It was a sentence that had no meaning, but Shi Tingyun understood it.

He laughed and said, "Shi Tingyun will come tomorrow to read with the Thirteenth Prince, and the day after that. He will come in a year, and in ten years as well."

Perhaps it was a prophecy that Shi Tingyun really became Yan Yuanheng's companion for ten years.

Ten whole years.

Ten years has changed a lot of things, too.

Young cautious Yan Yuanheng to real talent gradually over Yan Yuanzhao, quite loved by the emperor, and Yan Yuanzhao also changed the earlier years of diligence and sensitivity, no longer demanding progress, more and more playboy style, called the emperor's headache.

Compared to these two men, Shi Tingyun's temperament has not changed much.

From the first time they met, he was a free spirit, as if everything could not involve him.

As he said at the age of fifteen in a drunken frenzy: the new generation of Wangcheng is the only one who can show me.

Shi Tingyun was familiar with every corner of Wangcheng. The first time he took Yan Yuanheng out of the palace, he went to the gambling house and won ten taels of silver, and with these ten taels of silver, he took him all over Wangcheng, going to the tea stalls to listen to books, knocking down melons for three cents a plate, drilling into the crowds to watch the shadow puppets, watching the Westerners play with snakes, and even coming up to the side of a Westerner, borrowing his snakes in the Western language, playing with them for a while and then bringing them back to frighten Yan Yuanheng.

Yan Yuanheng wasn't afraid of snakes and said lightly, "Nonsense, be careful of being bitten."

Shi Tingyun laughs at the fact that he lived as an old scholar at the age of twelve or thirteen, and he doesn't get angry.

Yan Yuanheng was never angry with Shi Tingyun.

He loved watching him do things, whether it was practicing his gun, practicing his writing, scribbling, washing his ink, or drinking wine, he did it all differently than the next person.

Yan Yuanheng doesn't quite understand what kind of feelings this is.

He figured that being with anyone for so long would probably result in such unusual feelings.

However, ever since Chu Ziling entered the Shi Mansion, the situation has been different from the past.

Shi Tingyun, who used to care about Yan Yuanheng's joys and sorrows, began to be accompanied by a boy, who was cherished by Shi Tingyun all the time.

Chu Ziling was born with a pair of smiling eyes, used to be good at things, and was extremely handsome, and Shi Tingyun also said that when he first chose him among the many servants, it was because his smile was pleasing to the eyes.

As it turned out, Shi Tingyun did not have a bad eye, and Chu Ziling was a very quick learner. Yan Yuanheng once saw Shi Tingyun teaching him the Horseback Gun style of the Tokaji Gun, and Chu Ziling easily performed the whole style after seeing it only twice.

Shi Tingyun loved talent, and when he sat down with Yan Yuanheng to drink tea with him, he still boasted about Chu Ziling and himself, "I have really found a treasure."

Yan Yuanzhao snorted, "A slightly smarter boy, is he worth bringing up on stage to say over and over again?"

Shi Tingyun spoke for Chu Ziling, "He is not a boy, he is a diamond. You will see."

Yan Yuanheng was silent.

My diamond in the rough, he thought, has I also raised a piece of his diamond in the rough.

He lowered his long eyelashes slightly, looking at the tea floating in his cup, trying to ignore the vague discomfort in his mind.

And after a certain polo match, he could no longer ignore it.

A drunken Gong Zi in the competition with spurs hurt the horse, the horse was frightened crazy, sudden force, the Gong Zi lifted off the horse, Shi Tingyun just near, flew off the horse, the Gong Zi catch, save his life, and Chu Ziling jumped straight crazy horse, in the field of panicked neighing, one by one to collect the reins, and even told the crazy horse slowly quiet down. In the panicked neighing of the horses, Chu Ziling jumped on the back of the crazy horse and reined in the horse one by one, slowly quieting down the crazy horse, riding around the field for a week, and then came to Shi Tingyun, who was guarding the drunken Gong Zi.

Chu Ziling slightly tightened the reins, the horse raised its front hooves, let out a long neigh, and stopped a step in front of Shi Tingyun.

The hot breath from the horse's nose lifted Shi Tingyun's hair.

He looked up at Chu Ziling on his horse.

Chu Ziling then leaned down and handed him the reins of his horse.

And Yan Yuanheng, who had hurriedly spurred his horse from the other end of the stable to escort Shi Tingyun, clearly heard Chu Ziling smile at Shi Tingyun as he handed back the reins, "Gong Zi at the bottom, Ziling at the top. Is this good."

Yan Yuanheng froze when he saw the always dashing Shi Tingyun, and then pursed his lips, actually looking like he was embarrassed.

Yan Yuanheng had never seen such a Shi Tingyun.

He was so sour in his heart that he went down and drank a few cups of hot tea, but he still had trouble calming down.

Yan Yuanheng stroked the belly of his teacup and asked himself in a low voice what was wrong.

Later, when the southern border revolted and the war was in full swing, the sixteen-year-old Shi Tingyun went to the battlefield with a Chu Ziling by his side.

The battle lasted for two years, culminating in a showdown on Daqing Mountain, not far from Jinji Ling.

The Emperor was really worried about Shi Jinghong's safety, so Yan Yuanheng, who was also worried about Shi Tingyun's safety, invited himself to go to the frontier.

By the time he arrived with his troops, the duel was already over, the Southern Border surrendered, and the war came to an end.

Yan Yuanheng met with the late general, proclaimed the imperial decree on behalf of him, and, after discussing the business, suppressed his inner tension and inquired where Shi Tingyun was.

He found Shi Tingyun on the edge of the Daqing Mountain battlefield.

Amidst the wild winds, Shi Tingyun was sitting on the slope, his silver helmet down, his long hair disheveled, and he was sitting quietly thinking about his mind.

And his eyes rested on the back of Chu Ziling, who was cleaning up the battlefield not far away and standing long and tall.

Yan Yuanheng called out to him.

Shi Tingyun only then turned his head, dragging his wounded leg down to kneel in salute, Yan Yuanheng hastened to help, and his long-lost jocular accent was heard again, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for graciously granting the Thirteenth Prince to the last general."

That night, Yan Yuanheng had an extremely inappropriate and strange dream in his marching tent.

A dream past, he was really disturbed in his heart, surprised at his own mischief, had to take advantage of the darkness, quietly buried his own desecration by the army tent.

With the war over, General Shi Tingyun asked Shi Tingyun to return to Wangcheng to recuperate. However, anyone can guess what is in General Shi's mind.

-- Shi Tingyun, it's time to get married.

But back to the city for more than a year, Shi Tingyun more with Yan Yuanzhao hang out, there are rumors that Shi Tingyun good Longyang, either with the sixth prince Yan Yuanzhao, or thirteenth prince Yan Yuanheng.

I don't know why, but Yan Yuanzhao always likes to joke with Yan Yuanheng about these ridiculous things.

Yan Yuanheng was disturbed by what he heard and politely said, "Sixth Imperial Brother, such nonsense rumors circulating in the countryside should not be spread indiscriminately, if Su Chang were to learn of it, it would be too unseemly."

Yan Yuanzhao covered his mouth with a golden silk fan, "Thirteenth Brother, just joking. But tell me, if Tingyun had to choose between you and me, who would Tingyun choose?"

Yan Yuanheng forced himself to hold back the impulse in his heart, "Sixth Imperial Brother, please be careful with your words."

That night, Yan Yuanheng according to his habits early to sleep, but the heart can not help but think, if Su Chang to choose, will certainly choose the sixth brother, the two of them since childhood is considered not to fight not to know, there are many things to say, the sixth brother for people and lively ......

For this reason, he was an hour late in falling asleep.

On the second day, Yan Yuanheng, who was dizzy, thought to himself that he was really a mediocre person.

Shi Tingyun will surely be with a woman when he has a family business to inherit.

However, Shi Tingyun stayed in Wangcheng for a year and a half, the emperor asked many times, and the second uncle of the Shi family often asked matchmakers to come to the door to talk about marriage, and the threshold of the general's house was to be broken, but Shi Tingyun refused them all, and had no intention of doing so.

Shortly after Yan Yuanheng heard that his father intended to give Shi Tingyun a marriage, bad news spread outside the Zhennan Pass.

General Shi Jinghong died a violent death from hemlock.

The vice general found hemlock poison inside the general's steamed buns that day. The cook cried out for justice, but was killed by the angry generals who thought he was a traitor from the southern border and chopped him up.

The General has always been careful, and whenever he eats, he uses a silver needle to test the poison, so no one knows how the hemlock poison was mistakenly consumed by the General.

When the news came, the Emperor thought of Shi Jinghong's love of reading with him when he was a child, and was so shocked and anxious that he vomited blood.

Yan Yuanheng was mindful of this, and after attending to his illness as usual, he hesitated again and again, but still left the palace and went to the general's residence.

He was entertained by Li Yeshu, who, with red eyes, said that Gong Zi was drunk and that A Ling was accompanying him.

Shi Tingyun gave himself a night to get drunk.

Yan Yuanheng asked A Shu not to pass on the message, and walked slowly alone to the outside of Shi Tingyun's house.

He heard Shi Tingyun talking, but he was actually talking about Yan Yuanzhao.

Shi Tingyun said, "...... I know what Yuanzhao has in mind. When he was a child, he thought he had a chance to fight for the throne, so he wanted to make amends with me. Later, Yuanheng came to the top, he knew he was not as good as me, so he stopped fighting and befriended me again, hoping that in the future, the new king will be on the throne and be able to have a peaceful life. I know he is always shouting at you, but he is really not a bad person ......."

Yan Yuanheng was surprised.

He was talking a little too much with this little guy.

He wanted to go in and put a stop to it, but unconsciously stood still, wanting to wait for him to say himself.

However, after a long time of bitter defense, he only waited for a simple comment, "Yuanheng, he ...... has a bright future ......"

"For the Emperor, for my father, for the two of them, I want to ......" The person inside struggled to get up, but then softened back to the bed, "The Jiangshan of the Yan family, Shi Tingyun to guard the ......"

Chu Ziling's voice came from within, "Gong Zi, don't make a fuss, go to bed early."

"...... A Ling. "After a long pause, Yan Yuanheng heard Shi Tingyun muffled with a sobbing voice, "A Ling, I don't have a father anymore ah. "

Yan Yuanheng's heart ached like a cut, and just as he was about to push the door to enter, he heard a sucking sound similar to a kiss from within.

Immediately afterward, he heard Chu Ziling say in a low voice, "Gong Zi, don't be sad. Ziling will go to the Southern Border with Gong Zi, and we will follow each other in life and death."

Yan Yuanheng's face changed greatly, and he almost fled from the General's residence, only to accompany his sickly father from afar on the day Shi Tingyun led his troops out of Wangcheng, and watched Shi Tingyun leave.

From then on, Yan Yuanheng could only hear about Shi Tingyun from the war reports.

Until his death, Yan Yuanheng regretted that he had not had a good word with him when he left the city.

......

This time, the process of injecting the world line was extraordinarily long and slow, and Chi Xiaochi could even clearly feel every bit of pain and love of the original Shi Tingyun.

He regarded Yan Yuanzhao Yan Yuanheng as his closest friend, but in his heart he loved only Chu Ziling.

Chu Ziling is a diamond in the rough that he has polished.

At first, he wanted to help him get out of slavery, but then, this diamond in the rough was just too eye-catching, and without realizing it, it took all of his sight.

However, male style is only a not too elegant hobby in the eyes of the world, and the Toki family's family motto is that concubinage is never allowed either.

Shi Tingyun didn't want to involve other girls, and didn't want to tell Chu Ziling what was on his mind, which would have messed up his heart, so he just broke the idea and wished to spend his whole life in the country, never marrying.

And the death of his father catapults him instantly to a high position he never thought possible before.

He came to Zhennan Pass and hurriedly took over the military affairs of the southern border.

After the death of his father, the people of the Southern Border moved immediately, and it was entirely possible to guess which force was behind the poisoning and assassination.

The northern government army military discipline is strict, at first change the general, although not to chaos, but inevitably secretly worried:

The young general has been on the battlefield and has been a war general's vanguard, so he has some prestige in the army, but he has never held a marshal position.

Does Shi Tingyun really have the ability to lead the entire Northern Household Army?

Shi Tingyun never showed a hint of vulnerability in front of others, and occasionally, when he drank with the generals, he had the heart to tell some interesting stories about the old days in the Watchtower, and laughed along with the generals.

Until one time, after a deadly battle between the mountains of Zobil, his lieutenant Chu Ziling disappeared during the battle.

Shi Tingyun, who had always been as stable as Mt. Tai, lost his temper for the first time, rushed out of his tent in the rainy night, and rode his horse to the mountains, turning over the corpses one by one, trying to find out Chu Ziling.

His playmate since he was twelve years old, his diamond in the rough, the only person he could pour his heart out to in the military, his ......

As he pulled up a bloodied corpse, he suddenly heard a surprised voice from behind him, "...... Gong Zi?"

Chu Ziling, in the melee, was cut in the back by a saber, fainted, and lay in the pile of dead for a long time, and was woken up by heavy rain.

Shi Tingyun was drowning in a sea of lost and found ecstasy.

He heard his voice and, without a word, stumbled forward, grabbed Chu Ziling's sludge-stained hair, and kissed him straight on.

That night, as the rain continued, Shi Tingyun, who had collapsed in the mud, choked on the water as she kissed him and coughed violently.

He wanted to indulge himself for a while.

Tonight, just tonight would be good.

He called him, "A Ling."

Chu Ziling patted him on the back, "Gong Zi, I have a name, call me Chu Ziling."

Shi Tingyun gritted his teeth and muffled his voice, "Chu Ziling, you have a wound on your back, Gong Zi allow you ...... to come up."

The person in front of him froze for a moment, then lowered his head and kissed a small scar at the corner of his eye, bending his eyes, "General Gong Zi ......, I have offended a lot, I hope to please forgive me."

That night, Shi Tingyun and Chu Ziling returned to the camp with a few wounded soldiers they had missed.

The two shared a ride, and no one could tell.

Only when dismounting, Chu Ziling immovably helped Shi Tingyun.

Shi Tingyun glared at him in anger and amusement, gritting his teeth and enduring his discomfort as he stepped into the tent, but in his heart a big stone fell to the ground.

He originally thought that Chu Ziling had no interest in him, so he didn't want to make it clear, but who would have thought that he had the same feelings as himself?

For Shi Tingyun, who is struggling to hold on to his life in the midst of the darkness, this is comfort enough.

The war in the southern border is getting tighter and tighter, the southern border people seem to be able to anticipate every move of the northern government army, the tactics are poisonous and vicious, good Shi Tingyun itself is also sensitive and changeable, move in response to the times, hard in the cracks of the hard to win a few battles, but also in the White Lacewing Valley, using the terrain and the horse pit, with five thousand soldiers and horses ate the southern border of the nine thousand cavalry troops, in the army gradually lay down the reputation.

Generals say that a tiger's father does not have a dog's son, and General Shih does have his father's style.

The loss of his father was gradually eclipsed by the tilt toward victory.

The head start that the Southlanders had so painstakingly sought was being lost bit by bit.

One day Shi Tingyun was reading a letter in his tent.

Coincidentally, two of his best brothers, wrote on the same day in succession.

Yan Yuanzhao asked him how he was doing, whether he was dead or not, and if he was dead, he didn't have to go back.

Shi Tingyun wrote the word "no" in the top frame of a piece of paper, and the letter was completed.

Yan Yuanheng wrote to him to ask if he was well, turning a letter into an elegantly worded and archaic ekphrasis.

Shi Tingyun again top frame, wrote full of a "good" word, handed over to the subordinate vice general, let him send out, suddenly heard outside the report, said the end of the battle, as expected, the northern government army won, Chu vice general to take advantage of the victory to pursue the attack, led the troops to chase a small group of remnants of the army and go.

Shi Tingyun threw his pen and cursed Hu Lai: "Poor enemy, how many times have I told him!"

He stood up, "Vice General Sun, order a team of your own soldiers and go with me to meet them, just in case."

Vice-Admiral Sun, who had followed the former commander-in-chief, Shi Jinghong, since he was a young man, was of a generous disposition, and could do nothing about the young general's impetuosity.

After all, ...... the young general is a military general, has long been accustomed to personal conquests, and always refuses to sit comfortably in the tent.

Shi Tingyun rides his horse away, but on a side road in pursuit, he encounters the horse trap by which he once won a great victory.

Horse trap is a chain formation, just into it, the trap above the camouflage is more solid, the more forward, the trap on the camouflage will be more fragile, and so that the vanguard troops realize that it is often too late, the foot of the trap has collapsed, and walked through the trap is also a succession of hooves stamped loose, a trap is a large area.

Although Shi Tingyun called off the rear line immediately after realizing that something was wrong, the shouts of murder and the rain of arrows that fell from the four fields still claimed the lives of most of the soldiers in an instant.

Shi Tingyun, however, was not covered by the rain of arrows, but only two iron feather arrowheads carved with the head of the Southern Border Eagle accurately pierced through both of his shoulders, knocking him off his horse, and the intention of capturing him alive was more than obvious.

There's an ambush?

Was it a plot?

But how could the Southlanders have known Chu Ziling would lead their troops in pursuit?

How is Chu Ziling?

Shi Tingyun did not think too much, struggled to get up, gritted his teeth and pulled out the feather arrowhead, went to grab the silver spear on the side of the horse, but suddenly felt a blackness in front of his eyes.

The ...... arrows are quenched with poison!

In his daze, Shi Tingyun stabilized himself with his spear, but he was unable to resist the effects of the drug and slowly slid to his knees.

In the midst of the sky spinning, there was a shadow looming in front of him.

He braced himself and looked up, only to see someone who made you think you were in a nightmare.

Chu Ziling stood in a small group of troops in Southern Border attire, still wearing the armor of the Vice General of the Northern Prefecture Army, bending down to salute with a smile on his brow, "Gong Zi, Chu Ziling has offended a lot, I hope to ask for forgiveness."

In the 19th year of Jianping, an expedited war report came into Wangcheng.

Shi Tingyun, a major general of the Beifu Army, was betrayed by Vice General Chu Ziling and captured at the southern border.

At that time, even the people in the South Border thought that Chu Ziling was just a dog with a lust for profit.

Chu Ziling was led to the King of Southern Border to receive praise for his great achievements, but who would have thought that he would expose himself that he had killed General Shi Jinghong by his own hand.

It was he who put hemlock poison on the fire paint of Shi Tingyun's family letter, and also asked his close soldiers in the main camp, whom he had cultivated during the previous wars, to deliver the letter to Shi Jinghong when he was having his meal.

He knew that General Shi Jinghong had the habit of turning the pages while reading, and that when he opened the letter, he had hemlock on his hands, and that by mixing the hemlock with the food he poured out afterward, he would be able to get away with it.

The king of the South Border was overjoyed and was announcing that he would give him a big reward, but Chu Ziling showed a token in public and said that he had done all this for the South Border.

...... He is the son of the king of the southern border, and he is the true honor of the royal son.

His mother was the second young lady of a Jurist's family in Zhennan Pass.

More than ten years ago, at the time of the war, the Southland people have played Zhennan Pass, Miss Chu was captured to rape, because of its beauty, was offered layer by layer, for the Southland King "exclusive".

Subsequently, the Northern Household Army killed back and made a surprise attack on the Southern Border King's military camp, and the Southern Border King abandoned his camp and fled, leaving behind two women who were already sixty years pregnant.

Miss Chu was saved by the northern army, received silver, but no face to return home, want to abortion is also too late, in the homecoming on the way to dillydally, she in a mountain suddenly move, abdominal pain, is at the end of the road, she encountered a in the mountain woodcutting widower, was saved by him, after a few hardships, finally gave birth to a child.

The woodcutter has a gentle nature and is not a bad person, Ms. Chu is nowhere to go, and the two are both poor people, so they make a companion together.

Chu Ziling looks like his mother, especially his smiling eyes, which are not characteristic of the people from the south of the border.

He took Chu as his surname, taught by Miss Chu since the upbringing, and intelligent, at the age of five was sent to a private school in the town below the mountain.

When he was eight years old, the woodcutter took Chu Ziling to the market, and the passing fortune-teller divined a fortune for him, saying that Chu Ziling's fate was too hard, and that he would be a traitor to his father and his mother, and to his friends and relatives, and that he was an orphan of the heavens.

The woodcutter does not care, the trigram as a joke to Miss Chu listen, who thought but seven days, in a rainy night, the woodcutter played a bundle of firewood, hurrying to the home, rolled down the hill, fell and broke his legs, was found three days later, his limbs have been festering, with a stretcher back to the home, struggling to breathe for several days, and ultimately died.

Ms. Chu was devastated. She fell ill.

Before she became so ill that she lost her mind and passed away, she finally poured out her sufferings of the past few years to her son who knew nothing about them.

He is the son of the barbarians, to get this is not her wish, but also killed her easy to find a good man, Miss Chu knows that he should not hate an innocent child, but can not help but hate.

Before dying, Miss Chu grabbed his hand, voice called hate, I do not know whether it is hate life, or hate people.

And Chu Ziling buried his mother and got his hands on the jade pendant that the king of the Southern Border had left in the camp in his haste to escape.

My mother stole and hid the jade pendant so that she could pawn it for some money in case she ran out of money on her way back to her hometown.

More than ten years later, he took this jade pendant, stood on top of the South Border court, calmly made up his mother and the South Border King affectionate, after the South Border King left, his mother carefully retained this object, day after day to bring to watch and reminisce about the story.

And he, sneaking into the general's residence for several years, curtsy, just with a heart of pure filial piety, wanting to serve the southern border, and one day return to the southern border, for mother's rightful name.

The Toki family, the father and son, were his long-prepared surrender.

Many courtiers in the courtroom spoke out to congratulate the king of the South Border, the king of the South Border was overjoyed and recognized him extremely painfully.

He had long ago not remembered the name of the woman from the Central Plains, but the jade pendant was his, and he was happy to believe that there was a foolish woman who willingly gave birth to a child for him, and who had been in love for many years, till death do us part.

More importantly, Shi Jinghong and Shi Tingyun, two of the Southern Border King's biggest problems, one is dead and the other is captured, both are real things that happened and cannot be faked.

All of these were mentioned in a laughing conversation between Shi Tingyun and him after he was imprisoned.

Chu Ziling turned around in front of Shi Tingyun and showed him a gorgeous robe: "Gong Zi, look, is this outfit beautiful?"

He said, "If I had only taken the jade pendant when I was a young boy to throw myself in, I am afraid that I would have been driven out by a chaotic stick."

He said, "How can I, a bastard with no merit and no pay, wear such clothes and be so highly utilized? All that Ziling has gained is due to Gong Zi's great kindness, and Chu Ziling will never dare to forget it."

Shi Tingyun, who was heavily shackled and had his mouth stuffed with hemp, only smiled faintly at his words.

He was long past the point of despair.

When he first woke up, Shi Tingyun almost went mad at the sight of his surroundings.

He did not want to believe what he had seen before he fell unconscious, until Chu Ziling himself came to him and showed him the fire-painted seal with hemlock, which had been hidden by the soldiers afterward.

The word Shi Tingyun is branded on the lacquer.

Su Chang, is his father's expectation of him, may his vegetarian heart be like snow and always be prepared.

It was precisely because it was his cherished Su Chang who sent the letter that my father opened it unguardedly and read it during dinner.

Seeing this object, Shi Tingyun gradually quieted down.

He looked at Chu Ziling, his voice hoarse: "...... Why? I, Shi Jia, what have I wronged you."

"The Shi family treats me extremely well." Chu Ziling's eyes curved up in a smile and said, "But you treat me well, but it is just a handout from the higher-ups to the slaves. I can be the son of the emperor, and I can clearly surpass that Yan Yuanzhao, so why do you want me to serve tea and water and be a vice general for the rest of my life? I also want to let my mother know that she doesn't deserve to hate me, that I can make her look good and become a queen, a woodcutter can't, he can't."

Shi Tingyun thought of the promise of the past, and of that rainy night that poured down like a basin.

Chu Ziling had been his master and servant for many years and could easily guess what he was thinking through his expression.

He smiled and bent down, gazing into his eyes, ''Loneliness is unavoidable in the barracks, and it is my duty to be able to serve the general for a night. Are you regretting it? Feeling that you should have been on top that night?"

Shi Tingyun suddenly laughed a harsh, muffled laugh that refused to stop until he choked violently.

Seeing Shi Tingyun act like this, Chu Ziling froze, and his tone took on a bit of a tentative tone, "...... Gong Zi, you can't be truly in love with me."

Shi Tingyun didn't give him an answer.

Chu Ziling had already given him enough humiliation, and there was really no need for him to add a few more points to that humiliation.

Chu Ziling did not kill him, but locked him up in his tent and sealed his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue.

He kept Shi Tingyun so that he could witness his glory.

Shi Tingyun also got to know Chu Ziling better during his imprisonment.

Nearly ten years of self-sacrificing career, so Chu Ziling to the word "slave" is extremely disgusted, but his few in the south of the king grew up beside the cheap brothers to look down on him, often to "people raised in the Central Plains of the dog", "dirty slave", "lowly seed", Chu Ziling can still make a tolerant appearance outside, back to the tent will take him to vent his anger.

Having become a prince, Chu Ziling no longer needs to hide himself, especially in front of his former Gong Zi Shi Tingyun.

He laughed as he pinched Shi Tingyun's face and made him call himself a slave, and insulted him as much as he wanted.

Shi Tingyun's weakened body, which had been tortured to death several times, never relented, which often caused Chu Ziling to become more and more enraged, and to hit him several times harder until Shi Tingyun fainted from exhaustion.

In the end, Shi Tingyun didn't even want to die.

At this point, to die is to admit defeat.

Soon after, Chu Ziling began his long-planned counterattack.

Chu Ziling followed Shi Tingyun to the battlefield as his vice-general, and learned the secrets of the Beifu army and the terrain of the Pass. While Shi Tingyun was figuring out how to defend on the sand table, Chu Ziling was looking at the opposite direction of him and figuring out the steps of the attack.

He had carefully prepared for so long in order to lead the Southern Border Army to counterattack the Central Plains.

The border has always been guarded by the Shi family, the Shi family was in decline, there was a lack of marshals, and the hastily appointed marshal was not able to build up his prestige among the northern army, Chu Ziling took advantage of the heat and utilized the art of war that Shi Tingyun had granted him to go down to the Zhennan Pass, which was as strong as a bamboo wall, and approached to the inner part of the pass all the way.

Chu Ziling brought Shi Tingyun with him every time he crossed a city, seemingly to torment him.

He made it.

Shi Tingyun was tortured day after day, and Chu Ziling would come to his tent after the war and abuse him.

He ambushed Shi Tingyun and said, "Gong Zi, you have returned to your homeland. Are you happy in the scorched earth of your homeland? How do you feel?"

Shi Tingyun did not say a word until he fainted through clenched teeth.

In a daze, he felt a hand gently caressing his face, and the voice ringing in his ears was a long-lost tenderness.

"...... Gong Zi, Gong Zi, why can't you give in to a soft voice. If you give in, I will be nice to you."

A few months later, the city of Drainage was broken.

Shi Tingyun, who had been sleeping in his tent during the day, was inexplicably carried out of the tent by two strong and sturdy Southlanders.

Outside the tent is Chu Ziling's smiling face.

He said, "I can't believe that the one who guards the canal city is an old acquaintance of Gong Zi and me. Gong Zi come and meet me."

When Yan Yuanzhao, who was wearing an iron yoke, was pushed in front of Shi Tingyun, they looked at each other for a long time and were speechless for a while.

After several years, no one dares to imagine that the two of them will look like this when they see their deceased friend again.

It was the first time Shi Tingyun had seen Yan Yuanzhao in battle armor, and it was a bit funny, and didn't look as good as the purple satin and silk clothes he loved to wear.

Chu Ziling coughed lightly, interrupting the two of them looking at each other.

He came up to Shi Tingyun's side, crouched down, pointed at Yan Yuanzhao, and said, "Want him to live?"

Shi Tingyun's face changed.

Chu Ziling showed a mischievous grin, "If you say to him, 'The little slave is humble, see the imperial prince,' or 'The little slave is humble, don't dare to defile the imperial prince's body of ten thousand gold,' then I will consider it. "

Yan Yuanzhao's body shook.

He had a pair of excellent ears, which were originally used to savor the Gong Shang and Jiao Zheng, and to enjoy himself, but at the moment, he was able to catch Chu Ziling's teasing and insults to his former friend.

"You say it." Chu Ziling said to Shi Tingyun with a smile on his face, "If you say it, I will spare his life."

Shi Tingyun hesitated for the first time.

In these six months, he had been humiliated, and no matter how much pain he felt inside, he had never once shown weakness.

However, if Yan Yuanzhao ......

While he was hesitating, Yan Yuanzhao over there suddenly rose up, ignoring the shackles' suppression and struggling wildly.

He hissed and growled, "Surname Toki, don't you dare kneel me!"

"Shi Tingyun, why do you think the Sixth Master befriended you! It's only because your last name is Shi! Your last name is Shi!"

"...... Do you think I, Yan Yuanzhao, am still your best friend? No! Not since the beginning!"

Shi Tingyun stared at him.

What Yan Yuanzhao said was a fact that Shi Tingyun had known since he was a child.

Shi Tingyun could understand his utilization, but he never thought that Yan Yuanzhao would feel guilty for the calculations he made at the beginning of their friendship, and even thought that Shi Tingyun would not humiliate himself for his sake as long as he expressed such a small selfishness.

Yan Yuanzhao's words were characterized by a determination to die: "If you dare to kneel down, I will bite my tongue right now!"

Chu Ziling waved his hand in disinterest, and seven or eight sturdy Southern Border soldiers surged up around him and surrounded Yan Yuanzhao, punching and kicking him, and the toothache-inducing sound of dislocated tendons and bones was heard endlessly.

Shi Tingyun was frozen for a moment, and when he regained his senses, he lost his voice and yelled, "Stop! You guys--"

Chu Ziling played with the jade pendant at his waist and stood to the side as if waiting for something.

Shi Tingyun plopped down on his knees and knocked heavily twice to the ground, blood splattering directly, "Chu Ziling, please, spare him ...... give him a pain, I beg you, please!"

Chu Ziling squatted down and curiously said, "Gong Zi, I, Fang Cai, told you to beg, why don't you beg."

Shi Tingyun vaguely heard the sound of a knife entering his body, and jeloused: "Yuanzhao ...... you spare him, I will listen to you in everything ......"

Chu Ziling appreciated enough the appearance of him bowing his head and begging for mercy, his heart was very happy, Fang Cai ghostly rhetorical question: "He used to loathe me like that, looking down on me. Now that he has fallen into my hands, why should I spare him."

Shi Tingyun tried to jump on Yan Yuanzhao, but the iron shackles prevented him from moving at all.

He watched and listened as Yan Yuanzhao lost his voice.

He watched the group of Southlanders disperse, and watched as Yan Yuanzhao knelt on a burning plaque, dead in his tracks.

He heard someone say that even before this prince died, his eyes were too wide open and he looked scared.

Another person said, it is said that this kind of death in vain people heavy brake, will use the eyes to remember the appearance of the person who killed him, after death to go to Hades to complain, you have to gouge out the eyes, in order to solve the brake.

That night, Chu Ziling put Yan Yuanzhao's body in the same tent with Shi Tingyun.

After one night, Shi Tingyun was close to insanity.

Half a year later, Wangcheng was broken, the imperial family fled north, leaving behind the thirteenth prince Yan Yuanheng, who was captured alive due to the city break.

After Chu Ziling had imprisoned them in a heavenly prison, he brought Yan Yuanheng to see Shi Tingyun.

At first sight, Yan Yuanheng couldn't believe that Shi Tingyun was still alive, and his face, which had been solemn since he was captured, finally showed a hint of fluctuation.

He stepped forward and gently patted Shi Tingyun's shoulder as if he were afraid of waking a beautiful dream.

However, Shi Tingyun, as if bitten by a poisonous snake, fell to the ground and kowtowed more than once: "The little slave is so lowly that he dares not defile the Imperial Prince's body of ten thousand gold. ...... The little slave is so lowly that he dares not dishonor the Emperor's ten thousand gold body."

...... Yuanheng, I don't care anymore.

You're going to live.

Don't be like Yuanzhao, don't be like Yuanzhao.

Yan Yuanheng was frozen on the spot, and when he met Shi Tingyun's trembling line of sight, his heart twisted, and his eyelashes dropped, hiding the cold light underneath his eyes.

Satisfied, Chu Ziling left and put Yan Yuanheng and Shi Tingyun in the Heavenly Prison for a while, and in a good mood, he went to the palace, where he could only walk with his head down in the past, to choose a lovely palace for his family's Da Gong Zi.

Who would have thought, that night, Yan Yuanheng escaped from prison.

He couldn't cross over to the outside no matter what, the Heavenly Prison was heavily defended, even if he stepped out, he would be pierced through the heart by ten thousand crossbows.

In the end, Chu Ziling did not care much about Yan Yuanheng's life and death, not only did he not bind him, but also provided him with bedding and tea utensils, clearly expecting him to hang himself with a sheet or slit his wrists with a tealight.

As Chu Ziling thought, Yan Yuanheng crushed a teapot, chose the sharpest piece, used the lock-picking trick Shi Tingyun had developed when he was a boy, and silently broke through his own Heavenly Prison cage, unlocked Shi Tingyun's cage again before the guards realized anything was wrong, and slowly and methodically re-fastened the locking chain, locking himself in with Shi Tingyun. The guards were not aware of anything unusual, but opened the locks of Shi Tingyun's cage again.

Shi Tingyun had a high fever, and in his drowsiness, he saw that familiar young man like a tree, his hair slightly disheveled, the corner of his mouth stained with blood, walk up to him.

He quirked his lips and muttered the words he'd said a million times in his nightmares.

A warm hand rested on the back of his neck and gave him two soothing squeezes, as if to reassure him, don't be afraid, don't be afraid.

Immediately, a bit of sharpness came against his throat, a dry, clean cut.

The youth who had been the only one in the springtime of the city of Hope lay in his arms, covered with blood and without a sound.

Yan Yuanheng held his shoulders, listened to the noisy footsteps outside, pressed the broken porcelain against his neck, and whispered in his ear, "Shi Tingyun, Yan Yuanheng has thought about you for a long time. But you don't know."

At that moment, Yan Yuanheng, amidst the noisy footsteps, held Shi Tingyun's body in his arms and slowly slit his own throat.

...... Springtime in the City of Hope, never again.