(The big chapter is 6,000 words, count it as two more, and will strive to ensure such an update every day in the future, and then strive to add more on the premise of improving the quality.) ）

The scholar is already old, and correspondingly, the son who gave him the grace of knowing him back then is also full of gorgeous hair.

The monarchs and ministers looked at each other in front of the Imperial Palace, the wind and snow outside the hall were in full bloom, and the light in the hall was swaying.

"You're here. The king asked, and as soon as the words fell, a violent cough sounded from his mouth.

The scholar looked at him, and the golden dragon robe was still gorgeous and gorgeous, brilliant and dazzling. However, the people wrapped under the dragon robe have long since lost their heroic appearance. He was rickety, full of frost and snow on his sideburns, and the years did not stop cutting wounds on him and him, and then they would never heal. It took the scholar a full breath to gather the thoughts that suddenly surged in his heart at that moment. Then he quietly recited the oath of the two of them: "The king seeks the national policy, and I seek the holy position." He met again in the year, as a minister and a king. Help this building, Kuang this Li people. ”

The voice echoed through the Imperial Palace, and it didn't stop for a long time.

The old king's eyes flickered, as if moved, as if there was a remembrance, but there was much more than two, and the emotions that filled his eyes at the moment were indescribably complex. Just like the relationship between the two, they were confidants, friends, and monarchs and ministers who watched over each other, comrades-in-arms with great ambitions, and inevitable junior brothers, but they cherished each other. The king closed his lips and was silent, he looked down at the scholar who was also old in the audience, looking at his snowy head, he thought, the wind and snow in Ningzhou in the past forty years are not much better than Tailin City.

Compared with the king's complicated thoughts, the scholar was much calmer, and after he had finished speaking, he bowed to the man on the stage—a great act of transgression. That kind of prostration is not the courtesy of a monarch and a minister, but a courtesy of a gentleman.

He said: "Brother Yuan, the promise on the banks of the Sushui River has been completed back then, and I came to repay the promise today. ”

The words spoken in a slow tone fell into the king's ears, and the king's body shook, and the glitter in his eyes became more and more complicated.

The two know each other, but now they are separated from each other, but no one has really betrayed anyone, but there seems to be an invisible force pushing the two under the general trend, and one of them must fall into the bottomless abyss after all.

The scholar made a choice before this and came to Longxiang Palace alone.

The king on the stage looked at him, as if he saw the figure riding away on the bank of the Sushui River many years ago, and he suddenly realized that after so many years, it was only himself who became unbearable......

Then he said, "You should know that only one of us will survive." ”

The king's voice echoed through the Imperial Palace, lingering and enduring, like a ghost whispering in the night. The scholar raised his head, of course he understood this truth, and countless stories of high merit and mastery who could not die well had already understood his fate. He nodded and said, "I know." ”

"So you want to die in order to return the peace of the Great Yan, right?" the king asked again, and as soon as the words fell, a violent cough sounded from his mouth.

The scholar nodded again, but shook his head again: "The common people are righteous, and they dare not be negative, and they dare not forget the grace of knowing each other." ”

Hearing this, the king's face was gloomy, and he lowered his head and stared at the scholar with a calm expression in the audience for a long time, and then he finally made up his mind, and with a loud shout, countless armor soldiers who had already been ambushed outside the temple gate rushed in, surrounded and controlled the elderly scholar, and then put him in the prison.

......

The state pastor of Ningzhou was imprisoned in the prison, and the news spread.

But no one in the court of Yan Court dared to mention this matter - if Your Majesty didn't say it, others wouldn't dare to ask, for so many years, His Majesty the Emperor had firmly held the authority of the entire Great Yan in his hands by relying on Cang Yuwei and the Black Wolf Army, and no one could shake it.

Half a month later, the state pastor was still imprisoned in the prison, and His Majesty the Emperor did not say a word about him, let alone the slightest intention of punishing him to death or holding him accountable. None of them could figure out what kind of medicine was sold in His Majesty's Emperor's gourd, whether he wanted to take Jiang Huanshui as a hostage and keep him imprisoned to intimidate Ningzhou, or whether he couldn't do it for a long time because of his old feelings, these speculations were unconscious, but no one dared to be sure what His Majesty the Emperor was thinking.

It wasn't until one day a few days later, when the envoys of the ghost Rong came to visit, and the holy decree to summon the Marquis of Chu to Beijing was also sent to Manzhou quickly, everyone came back to a little taste - since the recovery of Mangzhou, Chu Lantian led the troops to be stationed in Mangzhou, with the canonization of the imperial court as a last resort, and the restoration of the prestige of Mangzhou alone, he has almost become the real "state pastor" of Mangzhou. And such an existence is naturally a big trouble for the imperial court, in recent years, the ghost Rong has gradually calmed down the civil strife, and the ghost Rong has always regarded the matter of Chu Lantian retaking Manzhou alone a few years ago as a national enemy and family hatred, and there is no lack of intention to fight again in the royal court. And with the arrival of the ghost envoys, it is obvious that the imperial court has a better way to ease the contradictions between the two sides.

Of course, such an approach would require some sincere gifts, such as the head of the initiator......

It's just that Chu Lantian is to Manzhou, just like Jiang Huanshui is to Ningzhou, and Chu Lantian may not be as "stupid" as Jiang Huanshui who throws himself into the net. But Chu Lantian is Jiang Huanshui's old department, and it is not impossible to use him as a threat to summon him into Tailin City.

The people brought out by Jiang Huanshui seem to have such a problem, they don't know how to judge the situation, or they are always stumped by some "righteousness" that is not important in the eyes of most people, and the matter of summoning Chu Lantian into the palace not only caused a backlash from Ningmu Erzhou at the beginning, but then it went surprisingly smoothly, and even that guy helped the imperial court to stop the rebellion in Erzhou. And with Chu Lantian entering Tailin City, things after that became much simpler.

Chu Hou was pressed on a trumped-up crime of treason and was beheaded outside the noon gate of Tailin City, even if on that day, the people who knelt down in Tailin City to intercede for Chu Lantian knelt down from the gate of Longxiang Palace to the end of Baique Street, but after all, it did not change the fate of Chu Lantian's death.

......

After the dust settled, His Majesty the elderly Emperor went alone to the dungeon where the scholar was being held.

The scholar seemed to have been waiting for him for a long time, and was not surprised by his arrival, but just stood inside the cold iron door and stared at him, which was a gaze that was colder than the iron prison, even if he was in the Imperial Palace before, knowing that his fate was certain death, the scholar never showed such a gaze.

The king was inexplicably a little apprehensive, but in an instant, he pressed down and looked directly at the other party.

"Why?" Then, the scholar's voice rang out, echoing in the depths of the dark dungeon, cold and gloomy.

He certainly knew what had happened in the world outside the prison for more than a month, and he was furious, furious.

But after the anger, there was more incomprehension.

He had already sent himself in front of him, and he had already pacified the Ningzhou tribes, ensuring that no matter what happened, there would be no rebellion among the Ningzhou tribes, and as for Mangzhou, it had been held hostage by the ghost Rong for many years, and the power he could gather could not compete with Dayan, and he didn't understand why the guy in front of him who he once regarded as himself had to be so desperate.

"Remember what I told you? Yandi wants to be stable, you and I have only one person to live. The same old king calmly looked at the old man in front of him and said calmly.

It is hard to imagine that the two young people who were full of righteousness on the banks of the Sushui River would have their last conversation in such a way and in such a place.

"Since you also understand, then why did you kill Chu Lantian?" the scholar asked angrily.

This is the first time in this emperor's life to see the scholar's appearance, he sighed, sat down next to the scholar, through the cold iron prison, and said: "Three days later, I will let you go, you are still the state pastor of Ningzhou, you can continue to be in charge of your Sanxiao army, everything is as usual." ”

"Aren't you afraid that I will take the Sanxiao Army and Chu Lantian's old department in Manzhou to turn against you, the Great Yan Imperial Court?" the scholar asked rhetorically.

The emperor looked at the scholar with a calm face, and said firmly: "You won't." ”

The scholar's face changed, but the emperor still calmly said to himself: "You have learned your statecraft in the Qingying Academy, and I have been worried about me in Tailin City for so many years, but I have not been idle. I have seen too much of the emperor's mental technique, and the most important part of this is the wisdom of knowing people. ”

"Traitorous ministers, virtuous ministers, direct ministers, and mediocre ministers, everyone has his usefulness, the key is whether you can use it, whether you know how to use it or not. ”

The emperor said and glanced sideways at the old man in the prison, and the other party's gaze was no different from what he had imagined, a look of pity, surprise, and a little disgust. He smiled and said calmly: "I know what you are thinking now, you are thinking about things and people, and you are also thinking about the fickleness of people's hearts. ”

"But that's not right. ”

"Brother Jiang, do you know what this is called? This is called creating things to make people, and this is called forcing people in the world. ”

"If I don't learn this, if I don't understand this, I won't be able to get this throne, and I won't be able to suppress the opposition of the court, and send you to the position of state pastor, if I don't learn this, I won't be able to hold the authority of this Dayan, and I won't be able to send half of the treasury's expenses to Ningzhou in those years, and there will be no today's Dayan prosperity. ”

"But what I have learned also tells me that you are an important minister and a powerful minister, and you are a person who has to be removed. ”

"Maybe you won't rebel today, you won't rebel tomorrow, but what about the future? ”

The old man in the cell listened to the emperor's words in front of him, his expression couldn't help but be a little complicated, but he still asked with heavy eyes: "Then kill me, why kill Chu Lantian?" He and Mangzhou have no threat to Yan Ting at all, after I die, you have time to cut the domain, pacify, and slowly take back the authority of Ningmang Erzhou, just like you said, you are the best at this emperor's mental skill, which is difficult for you. ”

The old king smiled bitterly and sighed, shook his head, looked back at the old man, and replied, "Because I am dying." ”

The scholar's body trembled, he had thought of many possibilities, but he didn't expect this.

His body froze in place, and his gaze was a little glazed: "What?"

"Birth, old age, sickness and death are the principles of heaven, the eight great sages can't escape, and the princes and generals can't escape, although I don't want to do this, but that's the case, I was terminally ill five years ago, and I rely on medicine to support me to this day. The emperor said this, and a wry smile spread across his face again.

The scholar looked intently, and only then did he realize that the qi in the body of the person in front of him was weak, and it had indeed reached the point of running out of oil and drying up.

"What's going on?" the scholar asked, his voice a little louder. Although the emperor in front of him is already over seventy years old, even if he dies with his cultivation of opening the seven gates, it should not be so weak at this moment that his qi is almost to the point of annihilation, at least he has never heard of such a disease in this world.

But the emperor was not willing to dwell more on this issue, and he continued: "In this great Yan world, you and I are alive, and the world is not at peace. But if you and I are dead, we will not be at peace either. ”

"Yuan Tong's child has been the crown prince for twenty-eight years, and he has long been impatient. I can probably understand his thoughts, after all, the authority of heaven is in front of him, and he has never been able to touch it even if he is one step short, and he has been like this for twenty-eight years, and I am afraid that no one will be able to hold it back. ”

"But his ability to play with authority may be not bad, but the governance of the country is far inferior to yours. If you die, I can slowly encroach on Ningzhou's Sanxiao Army and weaken its influence. But after my death, no one in this Yan Court can suppress the Sanxiao Army and the old department of Manzhou, knowing that the son is Mo Ruo's father, Yuan Tong has no such ability. At that time, as long as someone with a heart provokes a little, under the guise of revenge for you, the Sanxiao Army will definitely be excited, and Yandi will definitely fall into civil strife. Qi Chu and other countries will inevitably take advantage of the fire to rob, and at that time, the situation of bullying by our predecessors forty years ago in Yandi will have to be done again. ”

At this point, the emperor paused and said, "So, you can't die. ”

"I want you to return to Ningzhou and continue to be in charge of Ningzhou for me, resist foreign troubles, and suppress Dayan's luck. ”

At this moment, the scholar finally recovered from the horror of hearing the terrible news, he stared at the other party with a grim expression, and asked, "What about after that?"

"Wouldn't Yuan Tong still regard me as an enemy, like a great enemy, do you think your son can rest assured that I will hold monstrous power in Ningzhou?"

The emperor smiled: "Chu Cheng, well, it should be called Ah Cheng now, that child was pushed by me down the river, so Ling Zhao saved her, and tied her to Yuan Tong's son, and Manzhou is no longer with Ningzhou iron bucket as before." If Yuan Tong had a clear mind, held the land of Sanzhou and managed it, he would not be completely restrained by Ningzhou, and he would be able to change the current situation between Ningzhou and Yanting-for-tat. ”

"Of course, this is temporary. That boy's thirst for authority is probably as great as mine, and you're going to have to fight it in the future......" The emperor fell silent again.

"Between you and me, it is nothing more than the grace of knowing back then, and now the festival of kings and ministers. I killed your proud protégé, you and I know the grace of the encounter, and the festival of kings and ministers ends here. ”

"What will happen to me in the future is nothing more than a matter of death, and I can't control too much. But I know that only you can take care of the righteousness of the common people and give the people of Dayan a national peace ......."

"As for how you do it and how you do it, it's all your business, I sit in the ancestral temple and watch, but you remember, you no longer owe me, what do you owe the Yuan family......"

......

Jiang Huanshui stopped what he was talking about and turned his head to look at Wei Lai, who could hear it in the room.

Wei Lai came back to his senses and frowned: "So, after you returned to Ningzhou, Yuan Yan also died, but you didn't choose to avenge Chu Hou after all, right?"

"Revenge?" Jiang Huanshui's eyebrows raised, "Who to report?"

"The Yuan family?"

Wei Lai's brows furrowed even deeper, he didn't respond to the old man's question, just stared at the other party, his eyes confused. Obviously, that was the answer in his heart after listening to this ancient time.

"Raise troops to Tailin City, how can Qi, Chu, and Gui Rong, who are eyeing each other sit idly by? I am afraid that Yan Ting has not yet overthrown my Yan Land, and the four states of Yan Land have already been destroyed. Jiang Huanshui also saw the young man's thoughts, and he said with a wry smile.

Wei Lai sank his face: "Yuan Yan just calculated this point before letting you go back to Ningzhou, and you just fell into his arms when you thought so." ”

"Yuan Yan said that he is the best at the emperor's heart, which is by no means a deception. You know it's a conspiracy, and I know it's a conspiracy. But the reason why Yangmou is Yangmou is Yangmou is because even if the person who plotted understands this, he has no choice but to jump into the past. Jiang Huanshui said bitterly, and after saying this, he looked at Wei Lai again, as if he remembered something, and suddenly asked, "What about you?

Wei Lai was stunned for a moment, and was speechless for a while.

He couldn't give an answer, but he felt that Jiang Huanshui's approach was not right: "But even if you endure it, Yan Ting will not let you go, you know better than me what Ningzhou is like now." The old snake devoured Ningzhou's luck, Yuan Zhichun dared to open mountains and rivers for the Tianque Realm for his own strength, and the imperial court almost acquiesced in this, so in the end, Ningzhou became a victim of the righteousness in your heart. Do you think that the people of the other three states of Yandi are innocent, and you can't bear to see their lives ruined, so why should the people of Ningzhou be wrong?"

Wei Lai's answer made the bitterness on Jiang Huanshui's face soothe slightly, and his eyes when he looked at the young man actually flashed with some approval at that time.

"Maybe it's because I'm getting old, but I've done a lot of things wrong over the years. ”

"Yuan Tong, as his father said, has a thirst for authority more than a hundred times more than Yuan Yan. After he ascended the throne, he suppressed all parties with the power of thunder, and Cang Yuwei and the Black Wolf Army became eagle dogs in his hands to eradicate dissidents, and he naturally would not let go of Ningzhou's existence. Like the snake......"

At this, the old man's voice became less calm, and his hands, hidden under his cuffs, suddenly clenched, as if some emotion that he had suppressed for a long time was about to rush out of his chest.

In Wei Lai's memory, this was the first time he had seen the old man show such a look, and he suddenly realized that the flood six years ago seemed far less inconsequential to the old man than he had imagined.

After Yuan Tong solved the problems of all parties during the change of power, he immediately set his sights on Ningzhou, reducing military spending, weakening the military system of the Sanxiao Army, winning over Ziyun Palace, and supporting the Jin family...... This matter has almost shaken the foundation of Ningzhou. ”

"And as far as I can think of, there is only one way to maintain the apparent peace of Yan Land, not only to avoid soldiers, but also to make Yan Ting jealous, and to maintain the apparent peace of Yan Land......

Wei Lai pricked up his ears and stared at the old man.

The old man narrowed his eyes and whispered, "Ascend to the Holy Realm." ”

Wei Lai's heart was shocked, as if he had thought of something, and his gaze at the old man changed.

"I spent the first half of my life fighting against Qi Chu Ghost Rong, and my cultivation was delayed a lot, and it was indeed a bit of a remedial thing to think about pushing open the Holy Gate when I was in my old age. It took me some time to reach the threshold of the Holy Realm, probably until six years ago......"

Wei Lai's pupils dilated suddenly, six years ago, six years before the arrival of the flood that engulfed his father's mother!

"I finally found an opportunity to open the eighth door, and I closed the dead. ”

"But it's like I know that once I push the Holy Realm away, Yan Ting will have no way to deal with me and Ningzhou. Yuan Tong also understood this, so during the months when I was locked in death, he tried every means to obstruct me. ”

"Stationed troops on the border of Ningzhou, summoned me into Tailin City for various reasons, and all kinds of means emerged one after another, but I calculated that he would not dare to come with me at that time, so I naturally ignored it. But I didn't think ......"

The old man paused again as he spoke, and Wei Lai could clearly feel that the old man's thin body seemed to tremble faintly at that time.

"You're saying you didn't expect that snake to kill your father, did you?" Wei Lai asked in a low voice, his fists clenched at that moment, his eyes swelling with anger.

"Hmm. The old man nodded sullenly. "Actually, it was not without warning, Yuan Tong had already given your father and mother enough warnings before this, hoping to interrupt my practice, but your father and mother ...... Especially your father's temperament, you should be clear. He didn't want to distract me at that juncture, and he also knew that only my ascension to the Holy Realm could exchange for the peace of Ningzhou, so he suppressed the matter......"

The old man paused again, and the fact that at the end of the story, the old man paused several times more than the previous ones combined, which shows how much the old man cared about the matter.

"I put a ban on Jiang Rou's body, once she is in danger, I can feel it at the first time, but when I feel her danger, she has already ......"

"I interrupted my death, wandered in Wupan City, saw you being chased by the water at a glance, rescued you with a secret method, put you in a safe place, and went to Tailin City, and made a promise to that majesty that I would never ascend to the Holy Realm, which saved you. ”

The old man finally stopped completely at this time, but Wei Lai couldn't completely digest the old man's story.

He kept his head down, his body trembled, he remembered that night six years ago, he kept running and running until he was exhausted and unconscious, but when he woke up, he was lying on the grass in the suburbs. He thought that he had escaped the big water, but now he thinks about it, with the ability of the snake, if he really wants to kill him, how can he give him a little life, maybe the big water has been chasing after him at that time, just to lead Jiang Huanshui to come. And the funny thing is that he himself didn't know that he had been treating this old man who had silently protected him as a great enemy for so many years......

The old man was silent for a long time, and seemed to have finally calmed down from the memories that he did not like very much.

He stepped forward, gently patted the shoulder of the young man with his head down, and said, "No matter how unbearable those past are, they have passed after all. We have to look forward, for ourselves and for them. ”

"Think about it, I just asked you the question, if you were me, would you have a better choice in this situation? ”

"You have to think about it, because ......"

"Soon, you will be the master of this Ningzhou. ”