In late September, when the letter of Qin Bing of Chengnan County was loaded onto the chariot and slowly went south, more than 100 miles away in Huaiyang (Chen Ying), Changping Jun Xiong Qi also received a letter from the south......

When I opened the plain silk book, the delicate and slender Chu-style bird insect body came into view, but after only scanning it twice, Xiong Qi crumpled it into a ball! Hold it in the palm of your hand and never want to open it again.

There is no doubt that although he was born in Xianyang and grew up in Qinchuan, the bird and insect seal of the Chu State was the first time he learned the writing when he was a child......

Xiong Qi's father was King Chu Kaolie, in the twenty-seventh year of King Xiang of Chu (272 BC), Chu asked Qin for peace, and King Chu Kaolie, who was still the crown prince at the time, was sent to Xianyang as a hostage, and this stay was ten years. During this period, King Chu Kaolie also married the daughter of King Qin Zhao and gave birth to Xiong Qi.

Xiong Qi, who has the blood of the Chu royal family, grew up in Xianyang City in this way, he has been wearing Qin clothes since he was a child, and he speaks in Qin dialect, which is no different from the ordinary grandson of Qin. Only in the dead of night would his father personally teach him some Chu scripts and tell him not to forget his homeland.

Xiong Qi still remembers that his young and ignorant self asked his father stupidly: "Isn't Qin Country my homeland?" ”

His father beat him with a thorn and let him know what thorn is and what Chu is!

Jing Chu, in Xiong Qi's original memory, was synonymous with pain, and until now, every time he mentioned this word, he would feel a pang of pain from his soul.

There is no doubt that this letter was sent from the enemy border of the Chu State.

"Who's the messenger?" Xiong Qi looked at his subordinate Chen Ta, Xiong Qi is now the newly established "Chen County" county guard of the Qin State, but although he has many subordinates, only Chen Ta and dozens of other people are the dead soldiers he can entrust with his life.

Chen Ta said: "It's a ragged old man, and he only handed over this silk book, saying that it was a letter from the prince, and it must be delivered to ......."

"Family letters?" Xiong Qi's expression became more and more solemn.

He walked to the attic of the palace, pinched the silk book in his hand, and looked at the late autumn scenery outside for a long time.

Chen Ying used to be the capital of Chu after moving eastward, this is the former palace of Chu State, it stands to reason that he also had the opportunity to grow up here, but fate played a big joke with Xiong Qi when he was eight years old......

In that year (263 BC), his grandfather, King Qingxiang of Chu, fell seriously ill, but the state of Qin left his crown prince without wanting to release him. Xiong Qi's father conspired with Huang Xie and returned to Chu to become the king of Chu, while Xiong Qi's mother and son were left in Qin and became detainees with an embarrassing status.

Since then, Xiong Qi has been ordered by his mother not to learn the Chu script anymore, but to use the Qin seal instead. Even, only when he went to An Guojun's Mansion to meet Mrs. Huayang, did he have the opportunity to wear the ethereal and wide Chu clothes and eat sweet oranges from the south.

At that time, wearing Chu clothes in and out of An Guojun's mansion, there was also a Qin king grandson named "Yiren", he was an unpopular son of An Guojun, and was later passed on to Mrs. Huayang, so he was renamed "Zi Chu", which means the son of Mrs. Huayang of Chu......

Xiong Qi, the real son of the Chu State, watched in amazement as the businessman named Lu Buwei directed all this, and it was from this person that he knew what power and political skills were.

That year was the year of Qin Wai Handan, and he was only 14 years old.

After that, another ten years passed, the throne of Qin changed, and it was finally Zi Chu's turn to be king, but his life was short, and he died within a few years of succession. Zi Chu's son, the young man who had been detained in Handan for several years after Zi Chu fled from Zhao became the new king of Qin.

That year, Xiong Qi was 24 years old and Qin Wangzheng was 13 years old, so he had to call him a cousin.

Because Qin Wangzheng was young, the Empress Dowager Huayang, as her grandmother, began to listen to the government with the Empress Dowager Xia and the Empress Dowager Zhao. For a time, since the death of Empress Dowager Xuan, the Chu relatives who had been dormant in the Qin State for a long time ushered in spring again. As King Qin grew up, Xiong Qi became his most trusted relative and uncle, and he was also the most powerful promoter of King Qin's pro-government.

It is true that Qin and Chu are enemies of each other, and King Huai of Chu died in Qin, and he has formed a deep blood feud, but the offices of the two countries also have four hundred years and eighteen in-laws, and the chaotic and complex relationship between them has long been not a sentence of "enemy" and "I" can distinguish clearly.

Nine years passed (238 B.C.), Qin Wangguan, in the turmoil of Chang Yu's army to attack the Qi Nian Palace, Xiong Qi was ordered to lead the crowd to defeat Chang Yu's comrades and quell the rebellion. This outstanding meritorious service allowed him to get the title of "Changping Jun", and that year, he was 33 years old.

In the same year, the bad news came from the state of Chu, Xiong Qi's father, King Chu Kaolie also passed away, and Xiong Qi got the permission of the king of Qin to come to mourn on behalf of the state of Qin.

In Shouchun, the new capital of the Chu State, he saw the coffin of his father and three strange brothers who had been absent for more than 20 years......

The bear is fierce, the bear is still bearish, and the bear is negative.

Xiong Han and Xiong Yu were born to the same mother, and these two stared at Xiong Qi with wary eyes, for fear that he was assigned by the Qin State to come back and snatch the throne, after all, he was the eldest of the four brothers.

Xiong Qi thought he was a filial person, until a few years ago, when the news of killing Xiong Yu and establishing himself as the king came, Xiong Qi felt that he did not know anyone.

That's right, today's King of Chu is in charge, this is Xiong Qi's last "family" in Chu State, so this family letter should have been sent by the King of Chu!

"When the army of the Qin State was approaching, he finally remembered my eldest brother? What do you mean by those words written in the silk book? ”

"In addition to the silk book, this thing was also delivered." Chen Ta knew the temperament of his master, and waited for Xiong Qi to finish thinking before placing the small basket of fruits in front of him.

Xiong Qi saw that it was a whole basket of citrus.

Yes, it is late autumn in September, and it is the season when oranges are ripe, which is a specialty of Chu.

But when Xiong Qi peeled off one of them, he didn't see the orange petals of yellow, orange and orange, nor could he smell the rich sweet and sour smell.

Under the thick orange peel, there is only the hard citrus fruit.

Xiong Qi's face twitched a few times, and he opened the white silk book that he had crumpled up again.

Above it is a Qu Yuan's "Ode to Orange", which was their father's favorite poem during his lifetime, and he once asked Xiong Qi to recite it word for word.

"It's a pity that you and other children were born too late and couldn't see the coquettishness of Qu Zi." Xiong Qi still remembered his father's sighs and regrets, so he also memorized it very hard, and he didn't even need to look at the silk book to sing the above sentences.

"Emperor Jiashu, orange is obedient.

Ordered not to move, born in the south......

It is deeply rooted and difficult to migrate, and it is even more ambitious.

The green leaves are glorious, and they are gratifying. ”

After a recitation, Xiong Qi shook his head and sighed.

"My brother is a smart person, this is questioning me, is Xiong Qi ordered not to move, born in the southern country, not more ambitious Chu Tang? Or is it Qin Citrus who has changed all the things after migrating to the north? ”

Xiong Qi didn't give an answer, he just sighed, "I'm not Boyi, why should I be like me", and then he threw the silk book into the brazier with his own hands and burned it clean, and asked Chen Ta to bury the basket of bitter oranges.

He himself was expressionless, under the fiddling of the maids, put on a Qin official uniform, took off any ornaments and crowns that might have the color of "Jing Chu", and changed it to a modest Qin-style style to show his firm position. Then he went out and took the Anche, left the palace, and drove to the Qin army camp outside Chen Yingcheng......

Today, it is the day when Li Xin, the chief general of the Qin army, and Meng Tian, the deputy general, lead the army to arrive, as the county guard of Chen County, and also the chief officer in charge of logistics in this battle of Qin's annihilation of Chu, Xiong Qi must go to meet them, and the three of them discuss the strategy of destroying Chu together.

Li Xin and Meng Tian did not avoid Xiong Qi because he was the elder brother of the King of Chu, since the last time he successfully persuaded Chen Ying to surrender, Xiong Qi successfully dispelled Qin Wangzheng's suspicions, thinking that he had made a choice between Qin and Chu.

Xiong Qi closed his eyes on the swaying car to recuperate, but in his wide sleeves, at some point, there was a green and yellow mixed fruit, which was quietly stored in the palm of his hand.

This is an orange? Or citrus?

No one knows until they peel off the peel and find out......