Chapter 30: Yu Rong (Part 2)(5)

Li Hong smiled and said, "Your Majesty, how dare Hong not accept your guarantee? Haha, you are just looking at the contents of the memorial. The dirty words are very unfavorable to Di Huaiying, whether true or false. I am afraid there is a proper response. Otherwise, even if he is promoted, he will be criticized and will face many obstacles in his future career."

Li Wei did not elaborate on the so-called filthy words in his letter to Di Renjie, but Di Renjie immediately guessed from his hint that these rumors revolved around his relationship with Yu Rong. It was nothing more than saying that Di Renjie was very impressed by the beauty Yu Rong at the banquet at Zuiyueju. Therefore, in the later case of Xu Sihan's poisoning, he tried every means to clear Yu Rong, and even used extraordinary measures. Although Yu Rong was indeed innocent in the Xu Sihan case, Di Renjie's actions in it were suspected of being preconceived and somewhat unfair. How can such a person who is easily confused by beauty and emotionally tempted to bear the responsibility of the Qingtian to rule the people?!

Li Wei said in the letter that he had no way to guess who made up these rumors and how they spread them. But under the circumstances at that time, all his thoughts were concentrated on one point, that is, he had to break the rumors and restore Di Renjie's image. The incident was urgent, and Li Wei did not think much about it, so he thought about it. He told a story to Prince Hong in the tone of an eyewitness.

This story takes place at Zuiyueju, which is the friend gathering the night before Li Wei left Bianzhou. At that time, the scene and even the participants were absolutely true. Li Wei just told the prince that on that night, Di Renjie refused Yu Rong's throwing into his arms. The scene at that time was seen by Li Wei and others with his own eyes, so Di Renjie's gentleman style is unquestionable. Li Wei told the prince that afterwards Di Renjie once lamented that the beauty of a young girl is indeed desirable, but she was taught by an old monk that she could use imagination to curb lust, that is, imagine the beauty as a fox fairy, a poisonous snake, a ghost; imagine her beautiful appearance as her face when she was dying, with her seven holes twitching; she also imagined her graceful and plump figure as rotten and filthy, and crawling with decay. As long as this is so, no matter how beautiful she faces, the lustful desire will be as still as cool ice.

Li Wei wrote: "Wei's words are so convincing that the prince trusts me, and Brother Huaiying's promotion will come as scheduled. Just because the rumors have been spread before, Wei will distract another verbal and attack it against the other side. This will not only make the matter better without any harm, but will make it better. From then on, it will be based on the facts of Wei, and Brother Huaiying does not have to worry about it." At the end of the letter, he emphasized: "Brother Huaiying has ambitions and a talent of the world. Wei holds great hopes. Brother Huaiying will become a pillar of the Tang Dynasty in the future, and must not be slandered by the two or three treacherous villains. At this time of trouble, only Brother Huaiying is concerned about."

Di Renjie stared at the letter paper in his hand, his mind was empty. A cold wind blew, and the cypress needles on his head rustled. Small snowflakes that could not bear the load drifted with the wind and fell on the letter paper, dizzying and tearing, like blood and tears. "At this troublesome autumn, only Brother Huaiying is the only one who cares about." Di Renjie knew that he had no right to accuse Li Wei, and that his actions were all out of kindness. Di Renjie knew that he had no right to retreat, because ahead was the country, the people's livelihood and welfare, a great cause he was willing to devote his life's talents and energy.

However, on this afternoon when the auspicious snow was clear, Di Renjie stood in the courtyard and felt the coldness of the bones coming from the bottom, almost frozen his blood. He asked himself over and over again: Which is more important, the people in the world or the innocent girl? The answers are the same every time. The choice has been made, and struggle is just in vain, and I want to relieve the burden of conscience. Just this afternoon, Di Renjie questioned his fragility and hated his hypocrisy. He understood that even in his heart, he would have no face to face those eyes again.

Maybe, that's the price.

Three days later, the transfer order arrived. The imperial court's appointment was urgent and required Di Renjie to go to Bingzhou to take office in the New Year, so he had to set off quickly. He hurriedly handed over official duties, and even had time to sort out the most important parts of his luggage. On the morning of the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month that year, Di Renjie took his whole family away from Bingzhou and rushed to Bingzhou to take office.

The colleagues all gave him a farewell night before. Di Renjie set out early, so no one saw him off the city. On a desolate winter morning, the long pavilion and short pavilion were on the front, and Di Renjie rode a horse and seemed to be shaking in the Wangli Pavilion in front. The man obviously also noticed Di Renjie and his party, shouting loudly: "Brother Huaiying!" He trotted all the way from the Wangli Pavilion and came towards Di Renjie.

Di Renjie looked closely and found that the person coming was Xie Rucheng. They had never met again since the Zuiyueju gathering. This time Di Renjie left office and did not tell Xie Rucheng that he was here to see him off today. He should have received news from Li Wei, and then went to inquire about Di Renjie's itinerary. Di Renjie felt ashamed and hurriedly turned over and dismounted, headed towards Xie Rucheng, and called out: "Brother Rucheng, why are you here?"

The two met and bowed to each other. Xie Rucheng was not good at speaking. After saying a few words, he was speechless. Di Renjie felt even more and couldn't describe it. After drinking three glasses of wine with Xie Rucheng, Di Renjie was about to say goodbye. Xie Rucheng gently stopped him, pulled something out of his sleeve, and held it in front of Di Renjie: "This is... Yu Rong asked me to bring to you. She, she said, I hope Mr. Di can keep it and be a souvenir."

Di Renjie stared at the folding fan, and the sad pain of the afternoon hit his heart again. No, he shook his head and gently pushed Xie Rucheng's hands back: "Brother Rucheng, this...Di cannot accept it." Xie Rucheng was stunned for a moment, but he still put away the folding fan. When he looked up again, his face turned slightly red, and a slightly sad smile appeared: "Brother Huaiying, I, I have already asked Yu Rong for a kiss." Di Renjie's mind roared, and he paused, and then he forced his smile: "Okay, this... is so good. Di congratulates you!" Xie Rucheng stuttered: "She... hasn't agreed yet."

When the wind blew again, the figures of farewell in the long pavilion were already blurred. The city tower of Bianzhou City was getting farther and farther away.

In January of the second year of Qianfeng, Di Renjie successfully took office in Bingzhou. In mid-March, he received a letter from Li Wei from Chang'an. It turned out that Xu Jingzhi was unable to marry Li Wei on schedule because of his father's mourning, so he had to move to Chang'an first, accompany Li Wei there, and wait for the end of the year's mourning period. The letter stated that this made Xie Rucheng and Yu Rong go first, and the two got married in February. Li Wei was very moved by this, because Yu Rong's reputation was completely corrupted by his so-called "stopping into the arms and embracing". Xie Rucheng stood up at this time and could be called a real gentleman. Li Wei also said that Xie Rucheng was a rare good person, and Yu Rong had a good home after he followed him.

After that, Li Wei's letters were intermittent, while Xie Rucheng and Yu Rong had never had any correspondence with Di Renjie. At the end of this year, Li Wei said in the letter that Yu Rong gave birth to a son for Xie Rucheng, named "Lan", but the tone in the letter was not very happy, vaguely revealing that the couple's life was not as harmonious as imagined. After that, even Li Wei broke the news. Life ended a piece of the past without leaving any trace and entered a new chapter.

In summer, the Yehe River and the Poplar River are moved to Jian River. Many large rivers are abundant with green waves, and irrigated oasis on both sides of their banks. These oasis are large or small, but they are all green like a cover and the grass is delicious. They compose a refreshing pastoral song under the blue sky and white clouds.

Just as the sun sets that day, the young Turkic herder Jifa drove his dozens of cows back to the campsite. The nomadic tribe where he lives is not large, so he is even more unrestrained and wandering around at will. Now it is the best time of the year for them, and Jifa's daily life is so comfortable that it is hard to describe.

As the cow and horse entered the pen, Jifa jumped to the tent and shouted, "Mom! I'm so hungry..." As soon as he rushed into the tent, he frowned and stopped. In today's tent, he could not smell the scent of the past barbecue and butter tea, and his mother did not come to take his horse whip. He could only see the figure of the mother in the dusk, busying herself on a pile of weeds in the corner of the tent.

Hearing the movement, the old Turkic woman shouted without looking back: "Jifa, come and help." Jifa agreed to walk over, and her mother was trying hard to lift the body of a person on the grass pile: "Jifa, pick him up, I will change the grass under him, both blood and pus." Jifa took the man and immediately stained the blood on his hands. The old woman neatly took off the straw under the man, and then pulled it cleanly from the side, and gently laid the man flat with Jifa. Jifa asked, "Mom, he is still burning hot!"

The Turkic old woman wiped her sweat: "Who said no? I really don't know where he got so many injuries? And they were all rotten, how could this be good..." As she said, she lifted the strip of cloth covered by the man's body, and the bloody wound was exposed. Even Jifa couldn't help but make a cold war. The old woman took a thick bowl, dug out some black herbal paste from it with a small wooden spoon, and applied it to the wound. Jifa muttered: "Mom, this is useless at all." The old woman continued to apply, shook her head repeatedly: "The weather is too hot, alas! It's better than medicine."

Jifa touched his stomach and whispered: "Mom, you are busy serving him, and your son doesn't cook any more!" "Isn't there naan over there? Bake it yourself." Jifa had no choice but to pick up a piece of naan and chew it on his own, muttering: "This Han man is too seriously injured, even if he can survive, maybe he won't be useful. He is too painful now, so it's better..." The old woman was unhappy: "Jifa, how could you say that! Judging from the age of this Han man, he is quite young. If he dies, maybe the whole family will follow him. Since he is not dead yet, we have to find a way to save him."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old woman looked at the man and suddenly shouted: "Jifa, come quickly!" Jifa threw the naan in his hand, stepped forward, and suddenly opened the man's clenched teeth. The old woman took out a small silver box from somewhere, took out two small pills, one black and one white, and stuffed them into the man's mouth. Jifa still held the man's jaw tightly to prevent him from biting his tongue. The man's whole body was trembling violently. Jifaniang wiped his forehead that was constantly oozing sweat, and sighed in a low voice: "It's so painful, I don't know how he can stand it."

After a while, the man finally calmed down. Jifa and his mother were sweating heavily, looking at each other, and shook their heads with a wry smile. When he rescued the wounded Han man in Shatuochi, he only had one last breath, but he held the small silver box firmly in his hand. At first, Jifa and his mother didn't know what the use of the things in the small box was. Later, the man had a pain. Although he didn't even have the strength to roll and shout, his whole body twitched and his lips and teeth were spasmed. He was about to fail. Jifa's wife was wise in a hurry and stuffed the pills in the small box into his mouth. He slowly saw him calm down. From then on, they knew that the box was life-saving medicine, and he had to give him two at any time, otherwise he would have been dying of pain even if he had been in pain.

Before he knew it, it was already dark on the grassland. Jifa lit an oil lamp, baked a few pieces of naan and ate it with his mother. Jifa couldn't help but sigh: "I have to find a way to eat him." Jifa went to half-help the man up, Jifa scooped a spoon of goat milk, but couldn't fill it. Just look at the oil lamp, and the mouth was covered with blood bubbles. Jifa ruthlessly picked up a thin iron wire and heated it on the fire, pierced the blood bubbles one by one, and then patted the man's back. He choked and vomited several mouthfuls of blood. After waiting for a while, Jifa scooped the spoon of goat milk, and finally saw him swallowing it. He fed a few mouthfuls of it with great difficulty, and Jifa's eyes were red.

Before going to bed at night, Jifaniang discussed with her son that this was not a solution, and she still had to go to the city to find a doctor. Although it was the best time to grazle and the herders were reluctant to leave the oasis, they didn't care about so much to save people.
Chapter completed!