Hearing that Ma Ye had something to find him, Li Xiu immediately guessed what was going on, and this matter was also what he had promised Ma Ye before, that is, to collect the bones of the Sui soldiers who died in Liaodong for him.

But the plan could not catch up with the changes, originally according to Li Shimin's plan, at most in August and September, Goguryeo should be destroyed and captured alive by Quangai Suwen, but I didn't expect Goguryeo to be so difficult to fight, and it was delayed for a long time in Anshi City, and then in order to catch Quangai Suwen, a lot of time was consumed, especially after Pyongyang, Li Xiu and Qin Qiong led their troops to kill Marudu City, and when they returned to Pyongyang with Quangai Suwen's head, it was already a cold winter with heavy snow.

Originally, when they were about to come back, Li Xiu and Qin Qiong also discussed, wanting to stay and go to the Liaoshui River to collect the bones of the Sui soldiers, but then the news came from Anshi City, a heavy snowfall fell on the Liaoshui side, and the heavy snow blocked the road, and the bones of the Sui soldiers were also frozen, even if they rushed there, there was no way to dig them, unless they were dug violently, but the bones would definitely be destroyed, which Qin Qiong did not want to see anyway.

In that case, in the end, Li Xiu and Qin Qiong could only temporarily give up the plan to collect the bones, and decided to come back first this year, and wait until the weather warms up in the spring of next year, and then make a special trip to collect the bones, and if Ma Ye's health is good, he can also take him with him.

Of course, the above is just Li Xiu and Qin Qiong's plans, and they didn't have time to discuss with Ma Ye at all, after all, the two sides were too far away, and they didn't have time to write letters, Ma Ye must have known that Li Xiu and they didn't bring the bones of the Sui soldiers when they came back, so they asked Li Xiu to go to him.

Although there was a reason for the incident, Li Xiu promised Ma Ye at the beginning, but he failed to do it, which made him feel guilty, and he didn't wait until the next day, he went to Ma Ye's house after dinner that day, and explained it to him well, so as not to keep the old man worried about this matter in his heart.

At that moment, Li Xiu stepped into Ma Ye's house, the two families were not far away, and it was only a cup of tea on foot, and the people guarding the door were also very enthusiastic when they saw Li Xiu coming back, and there was no need to report at all, Li Xiu came to the living room, but before he could enter the door, he heard two familiar laughter and conversations in the living room, one of which was Ma Ye, and the other turned out to be Qin Qiong.

Li Xiu didn't expect Qin Qiong to come to Ma Ye's house one step ahead of him, which made him feel relieved, since Qin Qiong was here, then he must have explained it to Ma Ye, and he seemed to be very happy to hear Ma Ye's voice, it seemed that he was not angry.

Thinking of this, Li Xiu also stepped into the hall, and sure enough, he saw Ma Ye and Qin Qiong talking about wine, but this made him frown, and then said a little helplessly: "Uncle Ma, why are you drinking again?" ”

"Today, you have returned victorious, and you will naturally have to drink two cups for such a big happy event!" Ma Ye's interest was quite high, and he laughed when he saw Li Xiu come in, in fact, he also got the consent of the county lord of Guanghua to drink today, firstly, such a big happy event is indeed worth celebrating, and secondly, Ma Ye's health this year is also good, and he has not had any serious illnesses in the past year, so he made an exception today.

"Sit down, Brother Ma and I are discussing going to Liaodong next year, do you want to go with us then?" Qin Qiong also greeted Li Xiu at this time, looking at his red face, it is estimated that he had drunk a lot before, speaking of which, in order to maintain his body, he even quit drinking, but now that Goguryeo is gone, he is worried about it in his heart, and he doesn't even quit drinking, after all, for him, if he doesn't drink, it is better to let him die.

Li Xiu also came to the wine table with a smile and sat down at this time: "If Uncle Ma is going next year, then I will definitely go too, otherwise I won't be at ease with just the two of you." ”

"Stinky boy, what's wrong with me and Uncle Bao, don't think we're all bad old men, didn't Uncle Bao still behead that Quangai Suwen with his own hands before?" Ma Ye is a disobedient character, and when he heard Li Xiu's words, he couldn't help but slap the table.

"Brother Ma, don't mention this matter again, although it seems that I killed that Quangai Suwen, but the other party had been on the battlefield for a long time before, and it had already consumed a lot of strength, and when I fought with him, it took more than a dozen rounds to kill him, and I was already exhausted at that time, if the other party persevered for a while, I am afraid that it will be me who will fall." Qin Qiong said with a wry smile at this time, he didn't feel that he was old, but after the last fight with Quan Gai Suwen, he found that he was indeed old.

Hearing Qin Qiong's words, Ma Ye couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help patting Qin Qiong's shoulder and sighing: "Uncle Bao, you're right, although I don't want to admit it, but we are indeed old, wait until next year for our brothers to go to Liaodong and bring back the bones of the brothers back then, which is also our last wish, in the future, we will stay in Chang'an to retire with peace of mind, and then you don't live in the city, just build a house near my house, let's fish and drink every day, and let the younger generations worry about other things!" ”

"Haha~, that's what I mean!" Qin Qiong couldn't help laughing when he heard Ma Ye's words, in fact, he was already tired of the battle in the court, and he even went to the military academy before, if it wasn't for the last wish, I'm afraid he would have resigned and gone into hiding.

Li Xiu next to him couldn't help but sigh in his heart when he heard these words of Ma Ye and Qin Qiong, but he didn't know what to say, so he could only help pour wine for the two of them, and finally the two old men were drunk, and Li Xiu also personally helped them to the room to rest, and at the same time sent someone to Qin Qiong's house to report the letter, telling them that Qin Qiong was resting here tonight, so as not to worry about the people of the Qin family.

In the next two days, Li Shimin gave a holiday to all those who participated in the conquest of Goguryeo, and waited until the rest was over, and then talked about meritorious deeds, Li Xiu didn't care about this, after all, with his current status, no matter how great the credit was, it was useless, but Xue Rengui and these people couldn't sleep with excitement, and it is said that for several days they could see meritorious soldiers drinking and having fun all night in the major restaurants in Chang'an.

However, Li Xiu has always been worried about Li Chengqian's affairs last time, although he once decided not to ask about Li Chengqian's affairs anymore, but after all, after many years of teacher-student friendship, it is impossible to say that he will let it go, especially now that he is watching Li Chengqian slide into the abyss, which makes him unable to stand by and watch no matter what.

Thinking of the above, Li Xiu finally sighed, and then wrote a letter himself, and then he opened his mouth and ordered: "Come on, send this letter to the East Palace!" ”