Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 260 Seven Horses
Afeng and Xiao Wang had been waiting outside the door. They didn't know what the two people inside were talking about. Soon the door was opened and Yan Ciwan limped out with a cane.

She said to Ah Feng, "Send the breakfast in."

Ah Feng's face lit up, he said "OK", and immediately strode into the house with the tray.

Xiao Wang helped Yan Ciwan down the stairs.

"Madam Xie, are you willing to see Governor Xie off on his final journey?" Xiao Wang asked.

Yan Ciwan said that she didn't know either. Anyway, she had tried her best to persuade him. The final decision would depend on Xie Chusong himself.

The two returned along the same route and met Uncle Jiu at the gate of the governor's mansion.

They took a carriage back to Yunkelai. At that time, Xiao Qie was ordering people to prepare items for the roadside sacrifice. At dusk, the team escorting Xie Tanyu's funeral set out from the main gate of the Governor's Mansion. There were palace soldiers on horseback leading the way in front and palace soldiers holding banners in the back. Together with the sedan chairs and horses, there were hundreds of people, and the momentum was quite grand.

On both sides of the street, there were already roadside sacrifices prepared by local officials and wealthy gentry.

Uncle Jiu and two other servants knelt on the side of the road and burned the paper money and sacrificial texts prepared in advance in the brazier. When the funeral procession passed by Yunkelai, Xiao Ke and Xiao Wang stood on the side of the road and saluted towards Xie Tanyu's coffin with their hands crossed.

The dead are the greatest, and everyone in the inn bowed and saluted at this moment.

Yan Ciwan quietly looked up and saw Xie Chusong. She was wearing plain white mourning clothes, a linen shirt, a hemp rope around her waist, straw sandals on her feet, and she was holding Xie Tanyu's spirit tablet in her hands, her head lowered, and her eyes were red.

She might still be bothered by the extermination of the Xu family twenty years ago, but she could not completely forget the love and care Xie Tanyu had shown her over the past twenty years.

Between hate and love, she finally chose the latter.

A Feng followed behind Xie Chusong, and he kept bowing and thanking the people who set up the roadside sacrifice.

Only after the funeral procession had gone far away did the people in Yunkelai straighten up.

Yan Ciwan walked back with a cane, and she heard Liu sighing.

"I never thought that the brilliant top scholar would be gone like this. What a pity."

Hearing this, Yan Ciwan paused, turned her head to look at Liu, and asked curiously, "Madam, do you also know Governor Xie?"

"I can't say I know him, but I've heard of him. It's said that he was the youngest number one scholar in the history of the Daye Dynasty. Not only was he young and promising, but he was also quite handsome. When he rode his horses through the streets, all the girls in Chang'an came to watch. It was quite a sensation. Unfortunately, I was a female doctor in the palace at that time, so I didn't have the opportunity to witness the grand occasion with my own eyes."

Zhaolu held Liu's arm and asked as they walked, "I heard that when Governor Xie was released from prison, he was seriously injured, and it was my grandfather who cured him."

Liu said, "When Governor Xie was released, I had already left Chang'an with your father for several years, and I didn't know this happened."

They walked through the main room and entered the backyard, where there were fewer people.

Yan Ciwan lowered his voice and asked, "Have you heard about the extermination of the Xu family twenty years ago?"

"Of course I have heard of it." Liu couldn't help but sigh when she mentioned this tragic incident. "Back then, Crown Prince Renxian took the Crown Princess to hide in the Xu family. The Crown Princess was already pregnant at the time, but the damn rebels cut open her belly and forcibly dug out the fetus in her belly and threw it to death. More than 50 people in the Xu family were killed by the rebels. I heard that the blood flowed down the steps of the Xu family's gate and even flowed into the street. It was really tragic."

Everyone present was trembling at this description. Yan Ciwan glanced at Xiao Wang inconspicuously and saw that he looked normal, as if he had no reaction to what Liu said. But if you look closely, you can see that his lips are tightly pursed. Only those who are familiar with him know that this is a sign that he is in a bad mood.

Liu continued, "Afterwards, Emperor Wen issued an edict to confer the title of Duke of Zhongguo on Xu Hanshi, and his spirit tablet was enshrined in the Lieying Temple. This can be considered as compensation for the Xu family."

Li Chengge suddenly poked Du Lingzhou next to him and said, "I remember your father's spirit tablet is also enshrined in the Lieying Temple, right?"

When mentioning his father, Du Lingzhou immediately straightened his chest and said proudly: "Yes! Back then, my father, like Xu Hanshi, sacrificed his life to protect Crown Prince Renxian, so they were both posthumously honored together. They are both loyal and courageous heroes!"

Li Chengge said slowly, "I heard that there were seven horses under the tutelage of Crown Prince Renxian, namely, the prince of Xizhou, Yan Hengyu, the general of the crown prince's guard, Du Yunzhao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Xu Hanshi, the top scholar, Xie Tanyu, the junior minister of the Dali Temple, Zhou Nanxu, the son of the Earl of Zhongyuan, Chao Yuanzhi, and the fifth prince."

The Fifth Prince is the saint today, and to avoid breaking taboos, I dare not mention his full name.

Yan Ciwan's heart skipped a beat when he heard the name Yan Hengyu.

That was her father's name.

She didn't expect that Yan Hengyu had had some interactions with Prince Renxian when he was young.

There is also the current saint Li Baizhou, who was once the right-hand man of Prince Renxian. This shows that Li Baizhou and Yan Hengyu were partners when they were young.

But over the years, Yan Hengyu never mentioned the past. When he occasionally mentioned Li Baizhou, his face was full of vigilance and hatred, and there was no sign that they had ever been good friends.

Xiao Wang said thoughtfully, "Almost all the descendants of the Seven Horses have gathered here. Is this just a coincidence, or is it destined?"

Du Lingzhou thought this was quite interesting. He pointed at himself and Chaolu with great interest and said, "You are Chao Yuanzhi's daughter, I am Du Yunzhao's son, Xu Hanshi's daughter just passed by here, and although Xie Tanyu's son is not here, we have already met him, and the fifth prince's..."

He paused here and looked at Li Chengge, but was glared back coldly by Li Chengge.

Du Lingzhou had no choice but to change his words: "I heard that the daughter of the King of Xizhou has arrived in Chang'an, and she will soon marry the prince. We should be able to see her and the prince then. In this way, among the Seven Horses, the only one missing is Zhou Nanxu's descendants that we haven't seen."

Liu sighed, "I remember that Zhou Nanxu was only in his early twenties when he was killed by the rebels. Although he was married, he had no children."

Even someone as thick-skinned as Du Lingzhou couldn't help but feel sorry for Zhou Nanxu.

But he soon regained his spirits and said with anticipation: "I really want to get to Chang'an soon!"

The group chatted as they walked, and then went back to their rooms to rest.

Late at night, Yan Ciwan was lying on his bed, still thinking about the matter of Qijun.

Yan Ciwan saw clearly the look in Du Lingzhou's eyes when he looked at Li Chengge when he mentioned the fifth prince. She had guessed about Li Chengge's identity long ago. It seemed that her guess was correct. Li Chengge was most likely a prince. As for which prince he was, it was not clear for the time being.

Including her, all the descendants of the Seven Horses have met each other.

Just like Xiao Wang said, is all this just a coincidence? Or is it destined?