建元十一年冬，禦書房。
窗外又雪花紛揚，漫天鵝毛大雪已經落了三天三夜。午膳用過，皇帝站在窗前眺望著，雪花被風捧到他臉上，瞬間化成一滴水珠。
皇帝在窗前站了很久，陪伴他的只有靜默揮發熱度的火爐。
當值的侍衛進了屋，遠遠跪著，稟告：“皇上，軍中傳信，季老將軍病危。”
皇帝依然站在窗邊，只是背影明顯的一震，許久沒有任何回應。
侍衛跪了片刻，默默退下。
申海自門外進來，站在帝王身後，敞開的窗戶裡寒氣迎面而來，很快他就感到臉部的僵冷，而皇帝還是在那處站著，望著窗外天地一白，仿佛成為雕塑。
雪花簌簌而落，有些試圖闖入屋裡，卻在半途中被火爐散發的熱度蒸成了水滴，墜落在窗前那人的明黃龍袍上。
申海退了幾步，跪在皇帝腳下，“皇上，保重龍體。”
皇帝聽了聲音，才轉過身來，自己合上了窗戶，不理睬他的話，只道：“季老將軍不行了。”
申海愣了愣，很快反應過來，道：“季將軍已經離開一年了。”
皇帝“嗯”了聲，坐回椅上，不緊不慢的道：“老將軍一走，朕就該收回虎符了。”
又道：“也不知季玖能不能趕回來。”這一句聲音很輕，倒像是自言自語。略頓，皇帝重新提起音量，問跪在一旁的申海，“季玖知不知道，朕是故意支開他的？”
這樣的問題，申海不知該如何去回答。邊城過後便是沙漠，沙漠之後就是綠地，綠地之上，必是匈奴人的集聚地。這樣簡單的事，常年居住在邊塞的孩子們都知道，而皇帝，卻派季玖遠走，探察地形。
這樣的地形，探與不探，其實都無有差別。因為沙漠裡的沙是流動的沙，就算季玖走過去，也未必能按照之前的路線走回來。如何進退，是否尋的到匈奴王庭，尋得到一次，是否還能尋到第二次，一切全憑天意，以及將軍本人是否敏銳。
申海沉默良久，才小心翼翼地道：“季將軍聰明過人。”他說，只說了這一句，而後再不說旁的話。
皇帝也緘默了，望著龍案上那些奏章，許久方道：“他根本不在意朕是不是故意支開他。”他在意的，只是那句承諾。待他返京之日，便是天下兵馬交予他之時。皇上擺弄著案上那些奏章，心想這天下，沒有人比他更瞭解季玖想要掃平匈奴的急切，因為他也一樣。
所以，在一切未籌備好之前，他要將這個人遠遠放逐了，放逐到一個很遠的，危險，卻不必面對暗槍冷箭的地方。
在揮師匈奴之前，他要洗掉一些人，其中不乏與季玖往來密切的人。季玖若在，他們或許會起爭執，也或許，會將季玖牽連其中。
無論哪一種境況，都是他不願意看到的，所以，放逐季玖，是最好的選擇。這皇城，遠比沙漠危險。
回過神來，皇帝看向申海問：“奏摺擬好了嗎？”
“好了。”申海應了聲，取出一份摺子來，道：“明日早朝，張大人會親自上奏……”
皇帝揮了揮手，打斷他的話，“剩下的事你去辦吧。”
申海連忙叩首，應聲退下。
申海一走，皇帝又招來先前稟報的侍衛，問他季老將軍病情，侍衛原就是他的心腹，負責軍中安插耳目，監視軍隊一舉一動，此次季老將軍發病已經三月，眼看是要撐不下去，這才來稟告。
皇帝問：“還能撐多久？”
“據說已經不進湯水，怕是過不了冬了。”侍衛站了會，補了一句：“老將軍年歲大了，說病就病，也是正常。”
皇帝卻輕嗤一聲，不置可否，叮囑兩句便讓他退下了。
到底是年輕人，經歷太淺，哪裡知道，季老將軍並非年老而體衰，而是獨子離去一年，了無音訊，憂心而病重。
這些沙場上的將軍們，經歷了太多殺戮，見過太多生死離別，日久天長，個個看上去都是鐵石心腸。卻不知道，鐵石包裹下的心也是軟的，也會有牽掛與眷念，那份牽掛眷念，只會比尋常人更為深刻與隱秘，因為那是將軍們的軟肋，牽一髮而動全身。
侍衛退下了，皇帝一個人又回到窗前，望著外面雪花飛舞，不知道下一個雪花紛飛的年頭，能不能看到季玖回來。
三月，季老將軍病逝。將士們抬著他的靈柩回城，葬在季家祖墳，皇帝御駕，親自送行。
入秋，有密信傳入宮中，說是在匈奴人的遊牧隊裡，似乎見到過季玖。
轉眼又是一年冬，血洗過的朝堂恢復了安定，申海親自去了一趟邊塞城鎮，尋到了季玖留在城中的那五百兵士裡其中一隊，問詢季玖的動向。
他走後，那一隊兵士以駝隊打扮，進了沙漠。
開年二月十六日申時，季玖的駝隊，緩緩出現在地平線的那邊。
二月是季玖喜歡的季節，有一種萌動之美，是一種即將舒展鋪延的暗潮萌動。
他的臉上膚色沉了些，棱角較之前分明許多，是一種風沙過後的滄桑與剛毅，臂上帶著傷，裹著的白絹已經變成了一種渾濁不清的泥黃，他牽著駱駝，遠遠地走來，身後有三十來個人，看似緩慢卻亦步亦趨的跟緊著他。
申海迎上去，忙道一聲：“將軍。”
季玖笑了笑，嗓音有些沙啞：“沒想到第一個遇見的熟人卻是你。”
“將軍這一路……”申海頓了頓，略去了寒暄客套，道：“將軍跟我回京吧。”
季玖說好，走了兩步，轉過頭問他：“我家中可還好？”
申海遲疑了一下，才道：“老將軍去年開春……去了。”
季玖的神色變了變，傷痛自眼底一閃而逝，很快恢復平靜，翻身騎在他牽來的馬上，拱手道：“家中變故，季某先行一步，申大人可將人馬匯合一處，再進京與季某匯合。告辭。”說罷喚沈玨跟隨，兩人兩騎絕塵而去，無一絲凝滯。
一路奔波，沿途有季玖早先安排的人在等侯兩年後終於見到了自己的主子，陸續迎來，將這兩年所發生的事一一告知，季玖聽聞昔日友人家中被抄，又有同僚悉數被斬，也是似是而非的態度，不予置評。仿佛一切與他無關。
只有在聽到老相國被參本，革爵抄家時，眼皮才跳了一下，對著滿桌飯菜，發了很久的怔。
也沒有說話，似無話可說。
回到皇城，季玖沒有回家，徑直進宮，還是在書房裡，見到了皇帝。
君臣面對面，眼底的對方都是熟悉而陌生的，仿佛兩年光陰，讓他們已經忘了腦海中互相的模樣。站了很久，才開始交談。
卻連寒暄都無有。
季玖不提那場放逐，皇帝不提老將軍的鬱鬱而終，甚至並不問這兩年的人事變遷，所有經歷的驚心動魄。
只席地而坐，中間鋪著偌大的地圖，在西北部那片空白處，季玖取出自己那份描畫了兩年的圖紙，空白瞬間填滿，山川腹地，河流沙漠，無一不盡。
除了這張圖，仿佛這兩年一切都沒有發生過，仿佛季玖從來不曾離京，只是從軍中歸來而已。
各自心照不宣的隱去了這兩年光陰裡發生的一切。
談至夜深，燃了燈燭，又至天色發白，陽光燦爛，燭火熄滅。季玖歪在地上，合眼睡著了。
皇帝收起圖，取過斗篷來，蓋在他身上，而後坐到一旁，批閱奏章。
間或也去看躺在地上的那個人，兩年的光陰，仿佛淬煉出一把劍，不見鋒芒，通體漆黑仿若魯鈍，只有握著他的人，才知道這柄劍的威鋒——勢不可擋。
他會握著這柄劍，掃蕩匈奴，平定天下，威震海內。這是皇帝的目的，也是季玖的目的，所以甘為他人之劍，甘為鷹犬。
為了他們的最終目標。所有旁的，都是無足輕重的事，所以他們不去談它。
他們都是一樣的人，筆直朝一個目的而去，並掃平一切阻礙。至於沿途會發生什麼，他們都不放在心上。
皇帝一夜未眠，也乏了，手握著奏摺，看了兩行便迷盹著睡去。
季玖只打了個盹，很快醒來，見到身上那件斗篷，龍盤虎踞。這樣的刺繡與顏色，天下只有君王匹配。
季玖抓著斗篷起了身，捏了捏眼角，一眼便看到伏在案上睡著的帝王。便將那斗篷，覆在了他的身上。
而後悄無聲息的離去。
他們之間有太多相似，亦有太多不同，但這並不妨礙他們面對外敵並肩而戰。不論將來會有怎樣的際遇與抉擇，此時此刻，他們的目的是一樣的。
生與死，榮與辱，綁在一起，外力也無法將他們分開。
互相扶持與幫攜，在最後那日到來之前，這一點不會被更改。
豈曰無衣，與子同袍。
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In the winter of the eleventh year of Jianyuan, the Imperial Study.
Snowflakes were flying outside the window . The heavy snow had been falling for three days and three nights. After lunch, the emperor stood in front of the window and looked out. The snowflakes were blown by the wind onto his face and instantly turned into drops of water.
The emperor stood in front of the window for a long time, with the only companionship of the stove that was silently emitting heat.
The guard on duty entered the room, knelt far away, and reported: “Your Majesty, there is a message from the army that General Ji is critically ill."
The emperor was still standing by the window, but his back was noticeably shaken and there was no response for a long time.
The guard knelt for a moment and then retreated silently.
Shen Hai came in from outside and stood behind the emperor. The cold air blew in from the open window, and soon he felt his face become cold. The emperor was still standing there, looking out the window at the white sky and earth , as if he had become a sculpture.
were evaporated into water droplets by the heat from the stove halfway and fell on the bright yellow dragon robe of the man in front of the window.
Shen Hai took a few steps back and knelt at the emperor’s feet. “Your Majesty, take care of yourself."
The emperor heard the voice and turned around, closed the window himself, ignored his words, and said, “General Ji is dying."
Shen Hai was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted and said, “General Ji has been gone for a year."
The emperor hummed, sat back in his chair , and said slowly: “As soon as the old general leaves, I should take back the tiger talisman."
He then said, “I wonder if Ji Jiu can make it back." This sentence was very soft, as if he was talking to himself. After a pause, the emperor raised his voice again and asked Shen Hai, who was kneeling beside him, “Does Ji Jiu know that I deliberately sent him away?"
Shen Hai didn’t know how to answer such a question. Beyond the border town is the desert, and beyond the desert is the green land. Above the green land, there must be a gathering place for the Huns. Such a simple thing is known to the children who have lived in the border for many years, but the emperor sent Ji Jiu away to explore the terrain.
In this kind of terrain, it doesn’t really matter whether you explore or not . Because the sand in the desert is flowing, even if Ji Jiu walks over, he may not be able to walk back along the same route. How to advance and retreat, whether you can find the Xiongnu royal court, if you find it once, whether you can find it a second time, everything depends on God’s will and whether the general himself is sharp.
Shen Hai was silent for a long time before he said cautiously: “General Ji is extremely smart." He said only this sentence and didn’t say anything else.
The emperor also fell silent, looking at the memorials on the dragon table for a long time before saying, “He doesn’t care if I deliberately sent him away." He only cares about that promise. When he returns to the capital, all the troops in the world will be handed over to him . The emperor fiddled with the memorials on the table, thinking that no one in the world understood Ji Jiu’s eagerness to wipe out the Xiongnu better than him, because he was the same.
Therefore, before everything was prepared, he wanted to exile this person far away, to a very far, dangerous place where he would not have to face hidden attacks.
Before he led his army to attack the Xiongnu, he had to get rid of some people, including some who had close contacts with Ji Jiu. If Ji Jiu was there, they might have a dispute, or they might implicate Ji Jiu.
No matter which situation he faced, he didn’t want to see it, so exiling Ji Jiu was the best choice. This imperial city was far more dangerous than the desert.
After coming back to his senses, the emperor looked at Shen Hai and asked, “Have you prepared the memorial?"
“Okay." Shen Hai responded, took out a memorial and said, “Tomorrow morning, Lord Zhang will personally report to the emperor…"
The emperor waved his hand and interrupted him, “You can do the rest."
Shen Hai kowtowed quickly and retreated.
As soon as Shen Hai left, the emperor summoned the guard who had reported to the emperor earlier and asked him about General Ji’s condition. The guard was his confidant, responsible for placing spies in the army and monitoring the army’s every move. This time, General Ji had been ill for three months and was about to collapse, so he came to report.
The emperor asked: “How long can it last?"
“It is said that he has stopped drinking any soup. I am afraid he will not survive the winter." The guard stood for a while and added, “The old general is old. It is normal for him to get sick when he gets sick."
The emperor sneered, said nothing, gave him a few words of advice, and let him leave.
After all, they were young men with little experience, so they had no idea that General Ji was not old and frail, but was worried and seriously ill because his only son had passed away for a year and there had been no news.
These generals on the battlefield have experienced too much killing, witnessed too many life and death separations, and over time, they all look like they have a heart of stone. But they don’t know that the heart wrapped in the stone is also soft, and there will be concerns and nostalgia. That concern and nostalgia will only be deeper and more secretive than that of ordinary people, because it is the generals’ weak spot, and a single move will affect the whole body.
The guards left, and the emperor returned to the window alone, looking at the snowflakes flying outside. He wondered whether he would be able to see Ji Jiu come back in the next snowy year.
In March, General Ji died of illness. The soldiers carried his coffin back to the city and buried him in the Ji family’s ancestral tomb. The emperor came to see him off in person.
In the autumn, a secret letter was brought into the palace, saying that Ji Jiu seemed to have been seen in the nomadic group of the Huns.
In a blink of an eye, it was winter again. The court, which had been washed in blood, had returned to stability. Shen Hai went to the border town in person and found one of the 500 soldiers that Ji Jiu had left in the city to inquire about Ji Jiu’s movements.
After he left, the group of soldiers dressed up as a camel caravan and went into the desert.
At the time of Shen on February 16th of the new year, Ji Jiu’s camel caravan slowly appeared on the other side of the horizon.
February is Ji Jiu’s favorite season. It has a kind of budding beauty, an undercurrent that is about to spread .
The complexion of his face was darker, and the edges and corners were much clearer than before, showing a sense of vicissitudes and fortitude after the wind and sand. There were wounds on his arms, and the white silk wrapped around him had turned into a turbid muddy yellow. He was walking from afar, leading a camel, and there were about thirty people behind him, following him slowly but closely.
Shen Hai went forward and hurriedly said, “General."
Ji Jiu smiled, his voice a little hoarse: “I didn’t expect that the first acquaintance I met would be you."
“General, you’ve been on this journey…" Shen Hai paused, skipped the pleasantries, and said, “General, please come back to Beijing with me."
Ji Jiu agreed, took two steps, turned around and asked him, “Is everything okay at home?"
Shen Hai hesitated for a moment before saying, “The old general passed away in the early spring of last year."
Ji Jiu’s expression changed, and a flash of pain disappeared from his eyes. He quickly regained his composure, turned over and rode on the horse he led. He bowed and said, “Something happened at home, so I will leave first. Lord Shen can gather the people and horses together, and then go to Beijing to meet up with me. Goodbye." After that, he called Shen Jue to follow him, and the two of them rode away in a cloud of dust without any hesitation.
Along the way, some people who had been arranged by Ji Jiu finally met their master after two years of waiting . They came one after another and told him what had happened in the past two years. When Ji Jiu heard that his former friend’s house was raided and his colleagues were all beheaded, he also had a specious attitude and did not comment. It seemed that everything had nothing to do with him.
Only when he heard that the old prime minister had been reported, stripped of his title and his property was confiscated, did his eyelids twitch, and he stared at the table full of food for a long time.
He didn’t say anything, as if he had nothing to say.
After returning to the imperial city, Ji Jiu did not go home, but went straight into the palace and met the emperor in the study.
The king and his subjects were facing each other, and the other person in their eyes was familiar yet strange, as if two years had passed and they had forgotten each other’s appearance in their minds. They stood for a long time before they began to talk.
But there wasn’t even any greeting.
Ji Jiu did not mention the exile, the emperor did not mention the old general’s death from depression, and he did not even ask about the personnel changes in the past two years and all the thrilling experiences.
They just sat on the ground with a huge map in the middle. In the blank area in the northwest, Ji Jiu took out the drawing that he had been drawing for two years. The blank space was filled in instantly, with mountains, hinterland, rivers and deserts.
Except for this picture, it seemed as if nothing had happened in the past two years, as if Ji Jiu had never left Beijing and just returned from the army.
They tacitly concealed everything that had happened in the past two years.
The conversation went on till late at night, and the candles were lit. When the sky turned white and the sun was shining brightly, the candles went out. Ji Jiu leaned on the ground and fell asleep with his eyes closed.
The emperor put away the painting, took the cloak and covered him with it, then sat aside and reviewed the memorials.
Occasionally, he would look at the man lying on the ground. It was as if two years had forged a sword. It had no edge, and was completely black and dull. Only the person holding it knew the power of this sword – it was unstoppable.
He will hold this sword, sweep away the Xiongnu, pacify the world, and shock the country. This is the emperor’s goal, and it is also Ji Jiu’s goal, so he is willing to be a sword for others and a hawk.
For their ultimate goal, everything else is insignificant, so they don’t talk about it.
They were all the same people, going straight to a goal, sweeping away everything that stood in their way, and not caring what might happen along the way .
The emperor had not slept all night and was tired. He held the memorial in his hand, read two lines, and then dozed off and fell asleep.
Ji Jiu only took a nap, and soon woke up, and saw the cloak on his body, with dragons and tigers crouching. Such embroidery and color can only be matched by the king in the world.
Ji Jiu stood up, holding the cloak, pinched the corners of his eyes, and saw the emperor sleeping on the table. He then covered him with the cloak.
Then he left quietly.
There are too many similarities and too many differences between them, but this does not prevent them from fighting side by side against foreign enemies. No matter what encounters and choices they will make in the future, at this moment, their goals are the same.
Life and death, honor and disgrace, are tied together, and no external force can separate them.
Support and help each other , this will not change until the last day.
Who says I have no clothes? I will share my clothes with you.
痕書站 