Chapter 284: The Mountain of Wine
Sixty years ago, in November, snow fell, it was the winter solstice.

This year is a year of heavy snow. Even in Yingtian, far away in the south of the Yangtze River, there was a fine and dense snow.

Huhu~
The cold wind swept across the vast snowfield outside Yingtian. The cold sunlight shone through the snow. From time to time, there was a faint flash of light in the snow, like stars. But when you got closer, you realized that it was actually weapons and armor scattered all over the ground.

Pickers were pushing wooden carts, wandering around the snowfield, picking up relatively intact weapons, preparing to take them back to the city to be reforged… People who left the country would buy them for a price.

Occasionally seeing intact spears and swords was enough to make them smile with satisfaction… The silver they got from these weapons was enough for them to support their families to live a comfortable life for more than a year.

Only occasionally someone would look back at Yingtian behind them, their expressions gradually becoming somewhat complicated and sad.

In order to regain the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, the State of Chen launched six northern expeditions in fifteen years, mobilizing a total of one million troops. Years of war depleted the national strength, which eventually led to the rise of the State of Li and the inability of the State of Chen to compete.

Half a month ago, an army of 300,000 had besieged the city for more than three months. Yingtian was short of food and grass, and the people in the city were almost cannibalistic. Under internal and external troubles, the last emperor of Chen State opened the city and surrendered. With the fall of Yingtian, Chen State, which had been established for 60 years, was declared extinct.

Perhaps to prevent the Li army from bullying the royal women of Chen State, the last emperor killed all the royal family members and then hanged himself, leaving only the crown prince of Chen State, Xiao Lingyun, who had not yet succeeded to the throne.

Why did all his brothers and sisters die, leaving him alone alive? Why didn’t his father kill him?
Gurgle gurgle————

A carriage passed through the crowd, corpses, swords and guns. Chen Kingdom’s Crown Prince Xiao Lingyun sat in the carriage with an expressionless face, staring silently at the curtain in front of him, puzzled.

Emperor Gaozu of Liguo remembered that the last emperor of Chenguo committed suicide by jumping into the city, and that Wenliang was modest and had made great contributions, so he did not kill him. Instead, he named him “King of Chen” and moved him to Jiangyou. It seemed like a reward, but it was actually a secret demotion, which was more to appease the people’s hearts.

The royal family of your Chen Kingdom has not yet died out. If you want to rebel against Li and restore Chen, you should find Xiao Lingyun to develop your plan secretly. Therefore, don’t start any rebellion in recent years… With the fall of Chen Kingdom, all the land south of the Yangtze River has been owned by Li Kingdom. Emperor Taizu Gao was full of confidence and wanted to take back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun and expel the Rong people within a few years.

He is a master who can build a bridge between heaven and earth. This move… is worthy of a warrior. He is very arrogant and does not take the remnants of Chen country seriously at all… I will give you a chance to develop secretly, as long as you don’t cause trouble in the next few years to disrupt his plan to recover the lost territory.

But having said that, Emperor Taizu Gao only allowed Xiao Lingyun to travel with a small number of guards and in a low-key manner. There were also countless spies of Emperor Taizu Gao around him. Obviously… the so-called “rebellion against Li and Chen” must have been carried out under the nose of Emperor Taizu Gao.

Emperor Taizu Gao was not afraid of Xiao Lingyun causing trouble, but was afraid that Xiao Lingyun would delay his recovery of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

This kind of layered surveillance is both house arrest and humiliation… After all, just half a month ago, Xiao Lingyun was still the crown prince of Chen State and would soon succeed to the throne, but now he is no less than a prisoner.

From extreme honor to extreme humiliation, this extreme contrast is enough to make people collapse.

Xiao Lingyun hasn’t collapsed yet. He is still thinking about that question… Why is he the only one left alive?
The carriage continued to move forward. No one spoke. Apart from the sound of the carriage rolling over the snow, there was no other noise. It was completely dead silent.

Until a guard raised his hand and knocked on the carriage, “Your Majesty, someone is following us.”

Prince? This title made Xiao Lingyun stunned for a few seconds before he realized that he was being called… Now he was no longer the Crown Prince of Chen, but the King of Chen.

The stalker actually didn’t know any martial arts, and was quickly captured by the guards and brought to Xiao Lingyun… She was a woman.

The girl was wearing a goose yellow dress, and was no more than 28 years old… She was very pretty, and looked a little silly and naive.

Xiao Lingyun recognized her; she was the wine-selling maid of the Eastern Palace… Although she was a wine-selling maid, she was a bit stupid and had done the embarrassing thing of feeding flowers with wine, so he was deeply impressed.

At that time, she was scolded by the nanny of the Eastern Palace. It was Xiao Lingyun who saw it and pleaded for her, so she was spared from punishment.

It seems to be called Yier.

“Why are you following me? The emperor should have given you all the money and property long ago. Go back home.” The country has been destroyed and all his relatives are dead. Xiao Lingyun feels heavy in his heart and has no expression on his face. His tone of voice is not good either.

Yi’er stood outside the carriage, looking up at Xiao Lingyun. It was the winter solstice and the weather was cold. Her hands and face were red, and white air came out of her mouth and nose when she breathed.

After hearing this, she suddenly remembered something, took out a silver ingot from her sleeve, stood on tiptoe, held it high, and handed it to Xiao Lingyun in the carriage, “Your Highness will suffer when you go to Jiangyou, I will give you all this silver… I, I am just a wine seller, I didn’t get much silver, I’m sorry…”

She also called Xiao Lingyun the crown prince.

Xiao Lingyun was slightly stunned, looking at the silver ingot held high in her red little hand, silent for a few seconds, then silently lowered the curtain and sat back in the carriage. A voice came from the carriage, “Go back to your hometown, I don’t need your little money… Give her another hundred taels of silver, she is just a girl, it’s not easy for her to travel.”

The guard silently took out the silver note and handed it to the wine-selling maid.

She didn’t answer, but leaned over the car window with both hands and shouted inside: “Prince, I, I want to go to Jiangyou with you…”

Xiao Lingyun did not answer, but raised his hand silently, and the carriage moved forward on its own.

As a prisoner, a drowned dog, and a stray dog, he has no face to see anyone he knows again.

“Prince, Prince——”

The voice of the wine-selling maid could still be heard from behind the carriage, but then the voice gradually became distant.

After walking for a day, it was already late at night when they arrived at a town. They stayed in an inn and the guards brought them dinner.

Today is the Winter Solstice. According to Jiangnan customs, we should eat glutinous rice balls… but glutinous rice balls, glutinous rice balls, bring the family together.

Moreover, the royal family of Chen State has eaten dumplings on the winter solstice for generations… because this is the custom of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and they do this to remember that the lost land has not been recovered.

Xiao Lingyun silently looked at the steaming glutinous rice balls in the bowl without picking up his chopsticks. He just drank three pots of wine in silence and went to bed to rest.

After one night, there was heavy snow and wind outside the inn, and the sound of the wind whistling could be heard.

At daybreak, Xiao Lingyun got up silently. After a sleepless night, he came to the outside of the inn, but suddenly saw a person squatting on the stone steps outside the inn… the wine-selling maid.

She didn’t know martial arts, and her legs couldn’t walk as fast as a carriage, so when Xiao Lingyun was resting, she was still on her way in the wind and snow. At this moment, her skirt was covered with muddy marks, and she looked very embarrassed… Such a pretty girl, but she made herself look like this…

She squatted outside the inn, nodding her head, half asleep, perhaps because of the cold. She hugged her belly tightly with her arms. When she heard footsteps, she suddenly woke up and quickly stood up, “Prince…”

Xiao Lingyun was cruel and looked at her expressionlessly, “Why are you sleeping here?”

“I, I don’t know which room the prince lives in. I’m afraid that once I enter the inn, I will miss the prince, so I can only stay outside…” The wine-selling maid hung her head as if she had done something wrong.

Xiao Lingyun was silent for a few seconds, and then asked: “Why don’t you return home?”

“No, I have no money…” The wine-selling maid lowered her head in embarrassment.

Xiao Lingyun looked at her in confusion, “What happened?”

As he said this, he prepared to take out the banknotes from his sleeve.

Then the wine-selling maid loosened her arms that were tightly holding her belly…a piece of oil paper was held in her arms.

Her hands were red from the cold and trembling slightly. She untied the ropes that were wrapped around the oil paper and opened it, only to see more than a dozen dumplings inside.

Xiao Lingyun stood there in a daze.

Whoosh————

The cold wind mixed with snowflakes falling.

The wine-selling maid smiled at Xiao Lingyun, “Yesterday was the winter solstice. They certainly don’t know that the prince always eats dumplings on the winter solstice… They don’t know, but I know, but there is no place to sell dumplings in this town, so I spent money and borrowed a stove from a family to make a dozen dumplings for the prince. Try them? They’re still warm… Uh, no, they’re not hot anymore.”

The wine-selling maid lowered her eyes and saw the dumplings in her arms. They had been unconsciously squeezed into sticky lumps of dough and meat in her sleep, and they were cold.

She sniffed. A girl who knew no martial arts had run for dozens of miles in the wilderness without crying, and had squatted outside the inn pitifully without crying, but now she couldn’t help but started to cry.

Xiao Lingyun looked at the wine-selling maid who couldn’t help crying, and thought of the past… But he was no longer the crown prince of Chen Kingdom.

Even if this wine-selling maid followed him, she was just a prisoner’s maid, born inferior to others and without freedom. Even if she encountered any danger, he would not be able to protect her.

He has nothing.

Xiao Lingyun raised his hand to take the oil paper, took a bite of the cold, sticky dough, and said, “Go back to your hometown, I’ll give you money.”

“No, I want to follow the prince.” The wine-selling maid looked at Xiao Lingyun stubbornly.

“What can you do by following me?”

“Serve the prince.”

“I’m not a prince, and you’re not a maid… Go back home and find a good family.”

“The prince is a good family.”

“When I go to Jiangyou, I will be under house arrest for life and I cannot leave. Even if you were my maid, it would be the same. Are you so stupid that you don’t even understand this? Do you really think that just because he named me the King of Chen, I am a king!?”

“I don’t care if the prince is the prince or the king of Chen.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Your indenture has been torn up long ago, and you are already free. Why do you have to suffer with me?”

The wine-selling maid stared into Xiao Lingyun’s eyes for a long time, then suddenly smiled and took out a piece of paper from her sleeve.

Xiao Lingyun paused.

It was her indenture.

The wine-selling maid stuffed it into Xiao Lingyun’s hand and whispered, “It’s not torn… I didn’t let Madam tear it…”

The sky is full of snow and the cold wind is howling…two lines of clear tears.

The wine-selling maid said that she was born in Lin’an and was a girl from a wealthy family when she was young. It was only because Xiao Lingyun’s father had saved her father’s life that she was sent to the palace to serve Xiao Lingyun in order to repay the emperor’s favor.

She could go back to Jiangnan, back to her parents’ home…but she just wanted to follow Xiao Lingyun.

The two got married on the way to Jiangyou. There was an abandoned Taoist temple. They took a rest here. They got married without hesitation.

There is a small river behind the Taoist temple.

After buying the wine, Yier put the wine pot into the river and said to Xiao Lingyun proudly: “This wine tastes better after being cooled by soaking it in water. The so-called ‘three soaks and one drink’, the icy fragrance on the lips and teeth, the first soak, is, is… uh, what did the nanny say at that time…”

The wine-serving maid forgot that she was indeed stupid.

Xiao Lingyun knew that she liked flowers, and often picked some wild flowers for her on the road… She refused to accept them, but buried them in the soil and watered them with wine, saying that she wanted to cultivate a kind of flower that could be watered with wine and would have the fragrance of wine when it bloomed.

Xiao Lingyun asked her why.

She replied, “The prince likes to drink. I have seen him do this many times in the palace… If we plant these wine-scented flowers in the backyard, wouldn’t the prince be so happy?”

In fact, Xiao Lingyun would be very happy without having to grow this kind of flower.

But the warmth and sunshine on the road did not last long… For some reason, their tracks were exposed, and a Rongren expert crossed the Yangtze River, killed all the guards, kidnapped the two, and took them to the capital for house arrest. He spread the word that if anyone wanted to save Xiao Lingyun, they had to provide clues to the Inlaid Gold Boshan Furnace or the Four Glazed Jades.

As soon as Xiao Lingyun was kidnapped, most of the people loyal to the royal family of Chen Kingdom could not sit still…but they did not know where the old emperor had hidden the wrong Jin Boshan furnace, and they were powerless. They could only disguise themselves and sneak into the capital to save their master.

Xiao Lingyun knows martial arts, but no matter how high his martial arts skills are, how can he escape from the Rong people’s capital?

Anyway, even if he went to Jiangyou, he would be under house arrest. Now it’s just a change of place… Xiao Lingyun comforted Yier.

The Rong people knew that Xiao Lingyun, as the crown prince of Chen State, had many uses to his advantage, so they did not make things too difficult for him. They just provided a small courtyard in the palace for the two of them to live in… Although they were under house arrest and were not allowed to leave the house, fortunately their lives were not in danger.

The two of them could only take things as they came for the time being… they had become accustomed to this ill-fated life.

Life is bound to be full of disappointments, and everyone should learn to get used to it… They will understand this.

Yi’er did not regret it. As early as she decided to follow the carriage, she had already prepared herself mentally for a miserable life in the future.

When she was under house arrest, she was still thinking about how to cultivate flowers with the aroma of wine, but she was stupid and failed after trying for several years.

Although Xiao Lingyun was easy-going, he did not accept his fate and did not intend to be imprisoned for the rest of his life. He tried every possible way to contact the outside world… but most of them ended in failure. Every time he was discovered by the Rong people, he was inevitably beaten.

After being punished, he limped back to the yard. The prince of Chen State looked so miserable, like a lame dog that had been beaten.

But he was not sad or painful in his heart, because he knew that no matter what, there was someone waiting for him there, waiting for him to come back.

When he returned to the yard, the man was still selling wine for him.

Every time, Xiao Lingyun would smile, because he knew that even if he lost everything, this person would still be by his side, always waiting for him.

Although he has had a rough life, he actually thinks he is very happy.

During the period of house arrest, Yi’er gave birth to a daughter… and named her Jiu’er.

It was Yier who gave the name to her. She said the name resembled her.

Later, in less than a year, Emperor Gaozu of the Li Kingdom integrated the forces south of the Yangtze River and sent troops northward, where he was invincible. The martial arts sects, led by Xiaoxitian in Jin and Yanyun Sword Sect, also rebelled secretly, and the capital was in chaos.

Xiao Lingyun took this opportunity to finally contact his own people lurking in the capital, and took this opportunity to leave the capital during the chaos… But the Rong people were just in chaos, not losing their country, so they immediately sent troops to chase them. In the chaos, Xiao Lingyun and Yi’er had to separate.

Xiao Lingyun fled on horseback holding the infant Jiu’er in his arms. He was the crown prince of Chen State, and the one he held in his arms was the heir of the royal family of Chen State. He was obviously more important than Yi’er, so most of the Rong people chased him.

This gave Yi’er a chance to escape… after all, she was pregnant and had difficulty moving.

Gurgle gurgle————

The carriage moved forward in a hurry. Yi’er lifted the curtain and looked at the small black dot in the distance.

The sky was filled with wind and snow, and the shouts of killing were deafening.

This time, she couldn’t walk alone at night and chase that man stubbornly.

The two of them would never know… this would be the last time they would meet in this life.

The Rong people chased Xiao Lingyun for thousands of miles, and even after the capital was destroyed, they kept chasing Xiao Lingyun… not for anything else, just for the wrong Jin Boshan furnace.

Although the country is gone, the chance to obtain the Wrong Gold Boshan Furnace is still there, because during the chase they suddenly realized that the Crimson Pearl Jade had actually been with Xiao Lingyun the whole time.

He used the secret method developed by generations of people in the Chen Kingdom to place the crimson pearl jade inside his body, so they were unaware of it.

Not only were the Rong people hunting down Xiao Lingyun, even after Emperor Taizu Gao of the Li Kingdom conquered the world, he also secretly sent spies to monitor the martial arts world and search for Xiao Lingyun’s whereabouts.

Now that the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun have been recaptured, it is time to stabilize the country… The existence of Xiao Lingyun is the biggest destabilizing factor.

As long as he is alive, the vision of “Fanli Fuchen” will never die.

Because of this, Xiao Lingyun had a hard time in the martial arts world and hardly had a single day of peace.

At that time, there was such a man in the world. He was holding a baby in his arms, holding a sword, wearing a bamboo hat and a straw raincoat, hiding his identity and running around everywhere.

The dignified prince of Chen Kingdom went from being a prisoner to becoming a famous playboy in the blink of an eye.

Life was hard, but he remained unmoved… He firmly believed that his wife was still alive, and he firmly believed that one day they would be reunited.

But running around in the martial arts world is not a solution. Xiao Lingyun can wander around the martial arts world, living a life of poverty and with his head hanging on his belt, but his daughter cannot.

So he went to Mount Qingcheng.

At that time, there was no blue sky over Qingcheng Mountain. There was only green and drizzle flying in the sky.

He found a very secluded valley in the mountains, built an underground palace, repaired the wooden house, diverted water to form a spring, and planted fish fry…trying his best to make this place suitable for living.

When Jiu’er was hungry, he took her down the mountain alone and went to Dujiang Town to ask the young women for milk.

Dujiang Town was far from being as prosperous as it would be sixty years later. The population here was only about a thousand people, and everyone in the neighborhood knew each other. Until one day, this wanderer holding a baby suddenly appeared. Although he would disappear for a few months from time to time, he would bring the little girl to the town from time to time and buy her some candied haws and the like.

There was a female liquor shopkeeper in Dujiang Town who often helped Xiao Lingyun take care of Jiu’er, like changing her diapers and teaching her things that a girl should know. She was always there to help… Xiao Lingyun always bought a lot of liquor from her.

She asked: “Can you drink so much? You named Xiao Jiu’er like this, are you an alcoholic?”

Xiao Lingyun smiled every time and said, “No… I have a wife, and she gave the baby the name.”

“Really?” The female shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, then asked with a smile, “Where is she now? When will she be brought out for the villagers to see?”

Xiao Lingyun shook his head and smiled every time he said, “Yes, yes, I will definitely bring her to meet you.”

After a few years, when Jiu’er could remember things, Xiao Lingyun built a wooden man in front of the wooden house in Qingcheng Mountain.

Xiao Lingyun taught Jiuer the Chen Kingdom’s royal ancestral martial arts – Wan Wuchen.

Every time he left Qingcheng Mountain and went to Jianghu to find Yi’er, it was Jiu’er who practiced martial arts alone in front of the wooden man.

Jiuer has lived alone in the valley since she was very young. She has become accustomed to her father’s frequent disappearances… She is very lonely, but she has gotten used to it.

Just like her parents.

No matter how unpleasant things are in life, we should learn to endure them.

She never knew where her father was going… There were still many things she didn’t know.

For example, Xiao Lingyun always bought wine from the town, but instead of drinking it himself, he used it to water the flowers…most of the flowers would be watered to death.

Whenever Jiu’er asked, he would just smile gently and say, “Dad wants to plant a flower that smells like wine when it blooms.”

“Why? Is it because my name is Jiu’er?”

“Roughly the same……”

As the years passed, Xiao Lingyun and Jiuer spent countless springs, summers, autumns and winters in Qingcheng Mountain.

Xiao Lingyun didn’t want the heavy burden of the country’s destruction and the family’s ruin to fall on Jiu’er’s slender shoulders, so he never told her much about his life experience.

He is still alive, so there is no need to let Jiuer carry these burdens.

But when Xiao Lingyun fled the capital with Jiu’er, he was chased by the Rong people and suffered countless injuries. He had no time to treat them carefully, and as time went by and he got older, the injuries became hidden injuries… His health was getting worse day by day.

Over the years, the psychological pressure of not finding his wife and daughter has also been destroying his body.

Gradually, he stayed in Qingcheng Mountain for longer and longer periods of time…sometimes he stayed in Qingcheng Mountain for half a year.

If he is not teaching Jiuer martial arts, then he is quietly nurturing flowers.

The valley was full of flowers, their petals dancing in the wind, their fragrance filling the air with the smell of wine.

But it was not that Xiao Lingyun cultivated flowers that smelled of wine when they bloomed, but that he almost covered the entire back mountain of Qingcheng with wine.

This is a mountain that smells of wine.

Only the flowers on this mountain smell like wine when they bloom.

Xiao Lingyun has a handsome face and a gentle attitude. He often helps the villagers in Dujiang Town to deal with difficult problems. They will look for him when there are bandits or when there is a leak in the roof, so many women in the town pursue him.

But Xiao Lingyun always refused with a smile.

Going out of its east gate, there was a woman like a cloud.Although it is like a cloud, I want to save it.Wearing silk clothes and scarves, we chat and have fun with each other.

Out of the gate, there is a girl like a flower.Although it is in full swing, I still think about it.The silk clothes are like weeds, chatting and entertaining.

Twenty years later, ravaged by hidden injuries and heart disease, Xiao Lingyun died of illness on Qingcheng Mountain.

It was not until the night of his death that he told Jiuer everything.

Jiu’er listened silently. After Xiao Lingyun died, she buried her father in the valley.

She looked at the tombstone silently, not knowing what she was thinking. After a moment, she moved the grave to a flat land above the valley, and then planted flowers on the land with her own hands, as if many stars were gathered around the grave.

The flowers with the smell of wine were planted in a hidden valley, so my mother couldn’t smell them or find them.

If we plant it in the back hill and fill it with flowers, when mother smells the wine, will she be able to find father?

Twenty years after Hong Tian, ​​Jiu’er, dressed in white with a sword on his waist, stood in front of the tomb. Looking around, he saw a sea of ​​flowers.

She poured a pot of wine in front of the grave, then led the horse and left the place where she had lived for twenty years.

Went to the underworld.

——–

These are what were written in the booklet that Jiuer left for Zhao Wumian.

(End of this chapter)